FILE PHOTO: Mexico's new Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena Ibarra holds a meeting with the media at the Secretary of Foreign Affairs headquarters, in Mexico City, Mexico. July 14, 2023. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha/File Photo
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico and the United States are working on a plan to process migrants in southern Mexico, encompassing Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, Mexico's incoming foreign minister Alicia Barcena said on Wednesday.
Barcena did not detail the plan, but said it would complement existing options for migrants to enter the U.S. - a humanitarian visa program for those groups and a mobile app for asylum seekers called CBP One.
She said Mexico was looking to set up an "international space" offering "multiple services" for migrants from the four countries who remained in Mexico after COVID-era curbs at the U.S. southern border ended in May.
"President López Obrador has told us to do it in the south of Mexico to avoid this sad transit to the United States," Barcena told reporters after meetings this week between U.S. and Mexican officials on migration and security.
The plan aimed to encompass both asylum and employment, she said, adding Mexico wants to explore safe and orderly pathways for people who are not eligible under current rules.
Asked about Barcena's comments, a Mexican official told Reuters that talks were still ongoing with the U.S. The plan did not foresee using U.S. facilities, the official added.
Reuters reported this month that U.S. and Mexican officials were discussing a new U.S. refugee program for some non-Mexican asylum seekers waiting in Mexico, part of U.S. President Joe Biden's attempts to create more legal avenues for migration.
It would allow qualifying migrants approved for refugee status to enter via the U.S. refugee resettlement program, which is only available to applicants abroad, sources told Reuters.
Unlike most migrants who claim asylum after entering the U.S., refugees receive immediate work authorization and government benefits such as housing and employment assistance.
Barcena said the number of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border dropped more than 50% in May and June after the COVID-era border restrictions, known as Title 42, expired.
(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon, Dave Graham and Adriana Barrera; Editing by Alison Williams)
