The Central American minors program allows children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to apply for asylum in the United States from their hometowns.
In 2017, the Trump administration ended this program, but current President Biden has decided to bring it back and include expansions to it. When the Obama administration established this program in 2014, these children were able to apply only if they had a parent or family member living in the United States legally.
The new expansions include being able to apply for an asylum when having a parent who has had a pending asylum claim.
President Biden hopes that this will reduce the number of children trying to cross the border alone and allow them to apply for asylum without taking a dangerous route all alone. This could ultimately even reduce the number of migrants crossing the border overall.