migrants

Authorities said June 29 the death toll had risen to at least 53. Originally, first responders pulled 16 people alive from the rig, including 12 adults and four teenagers.

The statement released by the White House and signed by the heads of state of Mexico and several countries in Central and South America said that “migration should be a voluntary, informed choice and not a necessity,” and it makes the task of aiding migrants and refugees a shared responsibility among many nations.

A panel of Guatemalans in exile expressed worries about the stifling of democracy and rule of law in Central America and said that failure on the part of the U.S. to battle corruption there would continue to drive mass migration from the region.

The White House said providing baby formula to migrants at the border, even as the country faces a shortage of it, is “morally the right thing to do.”

“We cannot leave to future generations the burden of responsibility for decisions that need to be made now so that God’s plan for the world may be realized and his kingdom of justice, fraternity and peace may come,” the pope wrote in his message for the celebration Sept. 25 of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

The Diocese of Nuevo Laredo has issued and urgent appeal for assistance as hundreds of Haitian migrants arrive in the oft-violent city hoping to apply for asylum in the United States when Title 42 ends in May.

“It’s very difficult to predict what that migration will (look like) but we are planning for different scenarios,” said U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.

Biden administration officials have instructed lawyers for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to focus on prosecuting cases involving immigrants who pose a public safety, national or border security threat and set “low priority” cases on a different track.