Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration strengthens agreements with the US on migration issues

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, meets in the United States with different government organizations to reinforce agreements on migration

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, has begun a three-day official visit to the US to meet with government institutions and multilateral organisations and to address global solutions to common challenges, such as social and labour inclusion and legal, orderly and safe migration. She will also share experiences with students from Georgetown University and Spanish centres and associations in Washington DC.

During the first day, she held five meetings and bilateral encounters, accompanied by the Spanish Ambassador to the US, Santiago Cabanas. Tuesday began with a meeting with Luis Almagro, president of the OAS (Organisation of American States), in which the minister described her work as strategic in overcoming the administrative and economic challenges of circular migration. Together, they have established a collaborative agenda in this regard, and to combat hate speech. "Xenophobia and hatred have no place in societies like Spain and the US, with such strong emotional and economic ties to Latin America".

She then spoke with Ana María Ibáñez, Vice President of Sectors and Knowledge at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and members of her team to discuss in greater depth the collaboration and development of sustainable circular migration projects in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Ibáñez and the IDB team praised the creation of public policies such as the Minimum Basic Income, and the associated inclusion pathways, and asked Spain for an impact evaluation to scale up the most successful evidence.

The minister then travelled to the headquarters of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), where she spoke with Samantha Power, the agency's administrator.

"The ministry is firmly committed to the development of the trilateral agreement signed with the US and Canada in May 2023, which focuses on the management of migratory flows from Latin America, a region experiencing a time of great challenges, and on promoting opportunities for regular labour migration," said Saiz, who thanked the US government for its support in the Secure Mobility Offices for the management of resettlement programmes.

Need to further strengthen the transatlantic relationship

Saiz then visited the Department of State (DOS) to meet with Richard R. Verma, Under Secretary of State for Management and Resources, and Julieta Valls, Under Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration. "I proposed that my first international trip should be to the US and that we should have this first meeting with the State Department because of the joint work we are developing in the Central American region," the minister emphasised.

The day concluded with a meeting with Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, advisor to President Biden at the White House National Security Council (NSC).

"Migration is a complex phenomenon where joining forces is necessary to provide a long-term response that generates maximum guarantees of integration in the societies of destination. This is achieved above all by working closely with countries of origin and transit. We appreciate the willingness of the US to continue exploring this path of joint solutions that respect human rights", emphasised Elma Saiz, who today, Wednesday, will meet with representatives of the World Bank, the Department of Homeland Security and the Migration Policy Institute, as well as with centres and associations of the Spanish community in Washington DC.

Non official translation