The United Nations headquarters in New York on Sept. 19, 2019.
(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)






UN ‘Migration Networks’ to Facilitate
Migration Stir Concern



BY ALEX NEWMAN
March 31, 2021
Updated: March 31, 2021



The United Nations’ role in immigration policy is growing worldwide with the
establishment of a UN “Network for Migration” in dozens of countries to facilitate
large migratory flows, sparking alarm among American border-security advocates
already concerned about mass migration and the escalating crisis at the
U.S.-Mexico border.

The UN networks, which are led by a coalition of UN agencies, exist to support

the implementation of the controversial “Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and
Regular Migration” (GCM) adopted by the UN and over 150 of its member
states in December of 2018.

Among other goals, the global agreement aims to facilitate the expansion of
what the UN describes as “regular migration,” providing more legal pathways
for would-be immigrants seeking to re-settle in wealthier countries such as
the United States.

While the U.S. government has not been formally involved in the UN efforts of
recent years to transform global migration policy, that may be changing,
multiple sources told The Epoch Times.

Under the new administration, “the U.S. government has attended several
GCM regional reviews, reviewing progress on implementation of the compact
in all the regions of the world,” UN Network on Migration Communications
Coordinator Florence Kim told The Epoch Times in a phone interview.

“This is great because even though the U.S. did not talk about any progress,
they said that they would engage much more and they said they are re-considering
all the discussions, and they are willing to participate much more in these forums,”
added Kim, who serves as a spokesperson for the UN effort.

The U.S. State Department did not respond to repeated requests for comment
on the issues by phone or email.

The UN’s refugee agency already “works closely with U.S. government agencies
and [Non-Governmental Organizations] responsible for resettling refugees in
the U.S.,” the international organization says, adding that the U.S. program is
the largest in the world.

In 2018, citing concerns over sovereignty and the interests of the American
people, the administration of President Donald Trump rejected U.S. involvement
in the UN’s signature immigration effort to date, the GCM. Numerous other
governments in Europe and beyond followed suit.




President Joe Biden at the White House on
March 18, 2021.
(JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)


However, the Biden administration is warming up to the international agreement
and becoming more involved in the process, even sending U.S. representatives
to regional meetings on the compact, the UN official told The Epoch Times.

The growing UN push on global migration, combined with ongoing changes in
immigration policy between the Trump and Biden administrations, has numerous
U.S. organizations dedicated to border security very concerned.