President Biden proposes sending refugees to Spain in immigration crackdown

SPEAKING at the Summit of the Americas on Friday, June 10, US President Joe Biden vowed to crack down on illegal immigration and proposed sending refugees to Spain.

Biden blasted human smugglers during his speech, stating “We are coming after you” before revealing plans for refugees to travel to Mexico, Guatemala, Canada and Spain through “labour pathways”.

“We need to halt the dangerous and unlawful ways people are migrating,” the 79-year-old said.

He added: “Unlawful migration is not acceptable

“If you prey on desperate and vulnerable migrants for profit, we are coming for you.”

Speaking to the crowd at the ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, the president said: “We’ll secure our borders including through innovative coordinated actions with our regional partners.”

He revealed: “Mexico, Guatemala, Canada and Spain are making commitments today to expand labour pathways to their countries as well.

“And in addition to securing our border and bringing order to the asylum processing in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security is the first of its kind campaign to disrupt human smuggling in the region,” he said. 

According to a White House fact sheet, “Spain will double the number of labour pathways for Hondurans to participate in Spain’s circular migration programs,” as reported by the Daily Mail.

The theme of the Summit was “Building a Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Future” and Biden stressed that Spain – attending as an observer – would play an integral part in plans for the future.

The White House said that countries such as Spain would have to take “more guest workers and provide legal pathways for people from poorer countries to work in richer ones.”

The pact dubbed the ‘Los Angeles Declaration’ was created to encourage countries to “strengthen efforts to create the conditions for safe, orderly, humane, and regular migration.”

It added: “Migration should be a voluntary, informed choice and not a necessity.

“We are committed to protecting the safety and dignity of all migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and stateless persons, and intend to cooperate closely to facilitate safe, orderly, humane, and regular migration.”

Interestingly, it was recently revealed that Spain had welcomed more than 11,000 Ukrainian refugees since the start of the war, with the figure increasing each day.

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