Why The U.S. Must Grasp The Root Causes Of Central American Migration

What are the prevailing conditions in Central America that drive people out?

It’s a fundamental question that has to be asked – and answered – before the details of comprehensive immigration reform and sound asylum policy can be agreed upon and implemented.

As Miriam Valverde, writing for the Poynter Institute’s PolitiFact publication, questions, “Why would moms, dads, teens and kids take the risks they do, leaving behind their families and traditions, embarking on a journey that typically requires walking nights and days through the desert without water, swimming against strong river currents without a life vest, or hiding in the back of a tightly packed tractor-trailer for hours without enough air to breathe.”

Unfortunately, far too often, those responsible for public policy in America speak in sound bites designed to appeal to narrow political agendas.

There are two dominant schools of thought.

One group, Valverde notes, assert the large number of Central American immigrants arriving at the southern U.S. border is due to lax border enforcement, disregard for the law, and the temptations of U.S. jobs and generous welfare benefits.

The other, including the Biden Administration, focuses on what they term the root causes of exodus: entrenched corruption, grinding poverty, economic stagnation and fear of violence in their home countries.

The first set of arguments overlooks the issues of migration causation entirely.  Instead, they center on a problem not the making of the migrants – lax border enforcement by U.S. authorities – and exaggerates the significance of public benefits.

Most significantly, the first set of arguments are based on a misplaced economic implication that immigrants come to America to steal jobs and freeload.

This position is also egotistical. It presumes “everybody wants what is ours”.

Sure, many are coming here to earn a sustainable living. Many have a flawed perception about the strength of our economy and our ability to absorb new workers.

While they’re hoping to find steady employment, this is a far cry from wanting to steal jobs or abuse free benefits.

In other words, they’re coming here primarily due to their country’s faltering economic, political, and social conditions.

Rather than starve and live in misery, they pack up their bags, and head to an uncertain future with the belief that their efforts will make a difference in their lives and the lives of those they love.

Migration is always the product of mixed push and pull factors.

Yet, as Valverde explains, the root causes of the Central American exodus get little attention in the swirl of misinformation accompanying each new cycle of immigration political debate.

Meanwhile, the despair heightens.  For more and more people living abroad, there’s no hope their living conditions will ever change.

She’s right about the short-sightedness of our political leadership.

Their narrow, political pandering perspectives harm not just Central Americans seeking a stable life, but also U.S. citizens who cherish the same.

But change is possible.

To make it happen, we have to insist public discourse centers on the causes, not just the consequences, of mass migration. An ounce of prevention, after all, is worth a pound of cure.

By Carlos Batara

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