New York Times (Editorial)
June 16, 2015
This
time last year, migrants from Central America, including thousands of
unaccompanied minors, were streaming into the United States, creating a
problem for border communities
and Obama administration officials. With far fewer people reaching
American soil this year, it is tempting to conclude that the crisis is
ebbing.
That would be a mistake.
Thousands
of desperate Central Americans fleeing violence, poverty and, in some
cases, persecution, are continuing to embark on perilous journeys north.
A growing share,
though, are being turned back at Mexico’s southern border.
“The
root causes of migration haven’t gone away,” said Maureen Meyer, an
expert on migration trends who has analyzed recent data from immigration
authorities in Mexico
and the United States. “Things are certainly not getting any better.”
American
immigration authorities along the southern border detained more than
70,400 non-Mexican migrants between October and April of this year, a
majority of whom are
from Central America. That represented a considerable decline from
162,700 detained during the same period 12 months earlier. Meanwhile,
Mexican officials stopped nearly 93,000 Central American migrants
between October and April of this year, far exceeding
the 49,800 detained in the same period 12 months earlier.
As
the White House scrambled to find solutions to the border crisis last
year, officials urged Mexico to do more to protect its southern border.
The Mexican government
deployed more law enforcement officers along the border and made it
harder for migrants to travel as stowaways aboard freight trains. That
has meant that fewer Central Americans who have reason to seek asylum
are getting a chance to make their case. During
the first nine months of 2014, the Mexican government, which has a
backlogged and lengthy asylum application process, approved only 16
percent of claims filed by Central Americans.
The
United States has invested heavily in security along the southwestern
border over the past decade, in large part to stop unlawful immigration.
The Border Patrol, which
has more than 20,000 agents, doubled its manpower over the past decade.
Its parent agency, Customs and Border Protection, has seen its budget
balloon from $5.9 billion in 2004 to more than $12 billion this year.
Yet
American politicians have shown little interest in devoting resources
to address the underlying reasons Central Americans continue to head
north. They include gang
violence, chronic poverty, high unemployment and weak government
institutions. Last year, Obama administration officials studied closely
where the most recent migrants were coming from in drawing up a plan to
improve the region’s economies and curb violence.
The
Obama administration asked Congress for $1 billion for the effort,
arguing that the border crisis last year underscored the severity of
problems in El Salvador, Honduras
and Guatemala, the countries where most of the migrants come from.
Last
week, congressional appropriators in the House of Representatives
marking up the bill that allocates foreign aid set aside less than $300
million for Central America.
The lion’s share of the financing was approved for security
initiatives. That is extremely shortsighted.
The
United States can afford to play a bigger, more constructive role in
helping Central American nations. Letting the problems fester will
inevitably mean that people
seeking safety and a better life will keep heading north in large
numbers, which will continue to drive up the cost of keeping them out.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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