Panama was one of 20 American countries, including the United States, and Mexico that joined Friday in a declaration with concrete commitments to contain the migration crisis in the region.

The signing ceremony of the so "Declaration of Los Angeles on migration and protection" was led by the US president, Joe Biden, during the last day of the IX Summit of the Americas,

“No nation should assume this responsibility alone," said Biden, who stressed that not only is irregular migration going to the United States increasing, but that "millions" of Venezuelans have arrived in Colombia and that migrants now represent "the 10 % of the population of Costa Rica".

To alleviate the pressure generated by these flows, the signatory countries committed themselves -among other things- to expanding the opportunities to migrate legally to contain the arrival of undocumented immigrants at the southern border of the United States, which continues to increase.

"We need to stop the dangerous and illegal ways people are migrating. Illegal migration is not acceptable, and we are going to secure our borders," Biden said.

Quota increase
The United States promised to increase its quota of refugees from the Americas to 20,000 by 2023 and 2024, with special priority to those from Haiti, as well as to continue accepting temporary non-agricultural workers from Central America and to prevent "abuses" in their hiring.

The declaration was signed by the United States, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay

Biden particularly thanked the commitments made by Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Guatemala, Canada and Spain, a country that participated in the summit as an observer Spain has pledged to "double" the number of legal avenues for Honduran workers to participate in Spain's circular migration programs, according to the White House.

The Ecuadorian president, Guillermo Lasso, also spoke at the event. emphasizing the need to promote "It is urgent to promote development opportunities in countries of origin, on the one hand, and on the other, promote actions to identify and dismantle the international mafias that control irregular migration," he stressed.