US ‘Safe Mobility’ resettlement programme is working but too narrow: Report

A study from the Mixed Migration Centre indicates too many migrant and refugee applicants are ineligible for the programme.

A new report indicates that a year-old initiative to address irregular migration to the United States has been a relative success — but restrictions have limited the programme’s potential benefits.

On Thursday, the Mixed Migration Centre, a research and policy organisation, released an analysis of the Safe Mobility Offices (SMOs), an effort by the US government to discourage migration through the country’s southern border.

Launched by the US State Department in 2023, the Safe Mobility Initiative established offices in Latin American countries where certain qualifying migrants could file applications to resettle in the US through legal pathways, including by pursuing refugee status.

The lack of legal pathways, the report explained, continues “to drive people towards irregular, onward and often dangerous migration journeys, causing enormous harm and huge profits for smugglers”.

But the report praised the Safe Mobility Offices as a step forward. “Despite their flaws, the Offices offer a new path to protection in an environment where such things are rare,” the report’s authors wrote.