Please note!

This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Is the Biden administration reinstating a special refugee process for certain Central American minors?

Monday, February 8, 2021

By Mia Dillon

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YES

A Feb. 2 executive order by President Biden opened the door for reviving the Central American Minors refugee program, calling for “appropriate actions to reinstitute and improve” the initiative.

The CAM program, established in 2014 by the Obama administration, allowed children in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras with a parent already legally residing in the U.S. to gain a path to resettlement in the U.S. Program eligibility requirements were expanded in 2016.

The Trump administration terminated the program in 2017. At that point, it rescinded conditional approval already granted to applicants who hadn‘t yet entered the country; that action was reversed by a federal court in 2019.

Travel expenses for CAM beneficiaries are covered by private-sector donors, including United Airlines.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

White House: Executive order on creating a comprehensive regional framework to address the causes of migration—Section 3(b)(i)

US Citizenship and Immigration Services: In-country refugee processing for minors in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala

Federal Register: Terminating the Central American Minors parole program (2017 order)

International Refugee Assistance Project: Restarting the CAM Program for certain applicants

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.