US to open foreign centers in bid to stop migration surge

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration will open migration centers in Guatemala and Colombia for asylum seekers heading to the U.S.-Mexico border in a bid to slow what’s expected to be a surge of migrants seeking to cross the border as pandemic-era immigration restrictions end.

The pandemic-era restrictions end May 11.

But it is unclear whether the processing centers and other measures, including expedited processing for asylum seekers and crackdowns on human smuggling networks, will do much to slow the tide of migrants fleeing from countries marred by political and economic strife.