Leaders attending the Summit of the Americas are poised to issue a declaration pledging measures to curb illegal migration and help countries receiving large number of migrants to cope with them, according to a draft document seen by Reuters on Thursday.
The document, which was dated both June 6 and June 7, included commitments to work on convening banks to review their financial instruments for migrant-hosting countries, as well as improving migrants' access to public and private services.
A government official from a country at the U.S.-hosted summit said the migration pledges and all the other declarations had been approved by the participating countries on Wednesday. One pilot program developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other agencies will allocate $65 million in U.S. government funding to help farmers hire workers and improve work conditions. Separately, the Biden administration will issue guidance on best practices for ethical recruitment.
U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, took office in January 2021 pledging to reverse many of the hardline immigration policies of his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump. But he has struggled to contain record numbers of border crossings.