Updated May 28, 2024 – This backgrounder is also available in Spanish and in Haitian Creole below.
Since announcing the Safe Mobility Initiative in April 2023, the Biden administration has opened Safe Mobility Offices (SMOs) in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ecuador as new vehicles for migration pathways to the United States and elsewhere. Since there is limited publicly available information on the Initiative, IRAP shares what it knows about the SMOs, recognizing that information is incomplete and in flux, based on site visits and conversations with stakeholders in government and civil society in the United States and Latin America.
In January 2024, IRAP produced a backgrounder for legal practitioners and advocates to understand the Safe Mobility Initiative. To capture subsequent developments and learnings on the SMOs, IRAP is now sharing a second backgrounder with updated information.
The first backgrounder explained what the SMOs are, how they work, what the eligibility criteria are for each, what pathways are available through each, and the application and processing numbers as of January 2024. This new backgrounder provides, to the best of IRAP’s knowledge: (i) updated SMO statistics and outcomes; (ii) summaries of the current terms of the SMO agreements; (iii) an overview of how SMOs fit into the broader Western Hemisphere refugee resettlement and migration picture; and (iv) a snapshot of how people on the move typically learn about SMOs. We hope you find this useful.
You can view IRAP’s “SMO Backgrounder” document here or below.
This resource is intended for a legal practitioner and legal advocacy audience. If you would like more general legal information about refugee resettlement in English, Spanish, and other languages, or to request help from IRAP, please use IRAP’s Legal Information website and IRAP’s SMO Eligibility tool here.
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Puede ver el documento “Segundo Resumen sobre la Iniciativa de Movilidad Segura de la Administración Biden” de IRAP aquí o abajo.
Este recurso está destinado para una audiencia de practicantes legales y defensores legales. Si busca mas informacion legal general sobre el reasentamiento de refugiados en inglés, español o en otros idiomas o para solicitar apoyo de IRAP, favor de usar la página web de IRAP de Información Legal y Preguntas del programa Movilidad Segura.
Si desea recibir alertas por correo electrónico sobre los recursos de practicantes legales de IRAP, favor de inscribirse aquí.
Ou ka wè dokiman “Dezyèm Dokiman Enfòmasyon sou Inisyativ Mobilite San danje Administrasyon Biden nan 28 me 2024 (IRAP 2nd SMO Backgrounder in Kreyol)” IRAP la isit la oswa anba a.
Resous sa a fèt pou pratikan jiridik ak piblik ki gen pou wè ak defans jiridik. Si w ta renmen plis enfòmasyon jiridik jeneral sou reyentegrasyon refijye yo an Anglè, Espanyòl, Kreyòl Ayisyen, ak lòt lang, oswa pou mande èd nan men IRAP, tanpri itilize sitwèb Enfòmasyon Legal IRAP a.
Si w ta renmen resevwa alèt imel konsènan resous pratikan legal IRAP yo, tanpri enskri isit la.
