U.S. to Outsource Asylum Claims to Paraguay Under New Agreement

The United States has signed a new migration agreement with Paraguay, which will move a portion of the U.S. asylum process to the South American nation.

Signed in Washington, the Safe Third Country Agreement permits asylum seekers already within the United States to have their claims processed in Paraguay.

This is the first agreement of its kind with a South American country and is intended to relieve strain on the U.S. asylum system.

U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, characterized the pact as a way to “share responsibility for irregular migration” and prevent the misuse of asylum protections.

Rubio also emphasized that such partnerships are vital for border security and thanked Paraguayan President Santiago Peña for his support of the accord.

This agreement is the first of its kind during President Donald Trump’s second term, which has focused on stricter immigration policies.

The accord revives a policy from his 2019 administration, which included similar Asylum Cooperation Agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.

These earlier deals, later canceled by President Joe Biden, had allowed U.S. authorities to reroute migrants to those countries if they had not first sought asylum there while traveling to the United States.