Italy and Greece strongly deny CBS report on US shipping migrants overseas

The latest solution to address the surge of migrants at the U.S. southern border could involve shipping hundreds of Latin Americans overseas. However, Greece and Italy are denying a CBS report on Thursday, May 30, that claimed the Biden administration was working with the countries on a plan to send migrants over.

The CBS report detailed a new initiative that would target a portion of Latin American migrants. Under the plan, Greece and Italy would accept migrants processed at select immigration offices in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Guatemala. However, the countries would not accept many migrants. CBS News reported that the countries would only accept 500 or fewer each.

Both nations have since responded.

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“The CBS report is untrue,” said Greek Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis. “There is neither an agreement nor a request from the U.S. to resettle immigrants.”

According to Reuters, a source at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said that the story was “completely misleading,” but also confirmed that Italy and the U.S. were in the early stages of discussing a very small-scale migrant exchange program.

The source said that the U.S. would take some migrants from Libya while “some European Mediterranean states would host a few dozen” asylum seekers from Latin America. The source added that Italy would take “around 20 Venezuelans of Italian origin.”

However, a separate source at the Italian Interior Ministry told Reuters that “Italy would never agree to relocate hundreds of people on its territory given the already very considerable efforts it is making in terms of welcoming migrants.”

While the validity of the report remains in question, there is a broader effort by the White House to curb illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Biden administration has already offered some potential migrants legal immigration opportunities. Additionally, the administration has issued a rule that presumes migrants are ineligible for asylum if they do not seek protection in a third country.

President Joe Biden is also reportedly considering an executive order that would allow him to temporarily shut down the southern border if the number of migrant encounters jumps.

Following a record-high number in December, border crossings are reportedly down by 50% in May.