VOA News | Monday, May 6, 2024 
Blinken to travel to Guatemala for regional migration conference

GUATEMALA CITY — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels Tuesday to Guatemala for regional talks on migration. Officials will be discussing “enforcement, migration management and refugee integration,” the State Department said, two years after a group of 20 countries agreed on a framework of cooperation on migration issues. “Secretary Blinken will underscore our advances over the past two years and look ahead to next joint steps to bolster humane migration management and robust enforcement, lawful pathways and access to protection, and increasing refugee and migrant integration in the Americas,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. The Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection reiterated the need to create the conditions for “safe, orderly, humane, and regular migration,” and committed to protecting the safety and dignity of migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons. It also highlighted the need to address the root causes that push people to leave their home countries. U.S. President Joe Biden hosted Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo for talks at the White House in late March. Before heading to Guatemala, Blinken is attending a cybersecurity conference in California. Miller said…Read more