At the Source
How to ease migrant flow before it hits border
WHEN it comes to the debate in Washington over separating migrant children from adults, both sides are stoking the fire. President Trump’s allies thump their chest about “zero tolerance” and opponents pretend Trump created the problem. If the two sides focused on the underlying cause of the problem — the mess in Central America — they might agree on sensible solutions.
First, the wave of Central American migrants isn’t new, and it’s scarcely the result of Trump’s immigration policy. Second, beginning last month US border-security agencies have been dealing with an unexplained doubling of overall interdictions, compared to last year. Also in May, the number of migrants appearing as so-called family units quadrupled, and the number of unaccompanied minors tripled.
It falls to Trump and his team to deal with this crisis. There’s little doubt that sealing the border to illegal immigration was a rallying cry of Trump’s successful campaign. Working-class Americans have seen their wages drop, they blame the glut of illegal workers and they don’t feel guilty for worrying about their own children first.
However, the Trump team can’t hide behind “the Wall.” Having tackled these issues for 20 years, I’ve yet to meet a border-security expert who thinks that such an unbroken physical barrier is the most viable means of choking off illegal immigration. Yes, an effective deterrence at the border is indispensable — not only to intercept illegal migrants but to protect the country from drugs and terrorism.
In the long run, preventing our border-security resources from being overwhelmed by economic migrants will mean dealing with the root causes of illegal immigration and accepting some responsibility for the problem.
Not quite 10 years ago, the United States signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which also includes the Dominican Republic. We em- braced these nations as important economic partners, a promising destination for US goods and investment. Unfortunately, the destructive forces of corruption and criminality spoiled those plans.
Three of the CAFTA countries — El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — produce the bulk of the illegal migrants showing up on our border, representing a substantial increase from these nations in the last decade. Economic growth and job creation in these countries has stagnated.
Sluggish economic growth is significant, but that’s only a symptom. The tougher challenges are soaring crime and violence, fueled by rampant drug trafficking and ruthless gangs. Securing the transit zone through which South American cocaine flows to the US market, transnational criminal organizations use threats and bribes to neutralize local police and government.
Lawlessness breeds public corruption, undermining the ability of national leaders to inspire confidence among their own people or foreign investors. So, Americans who abuse illegal drugs share in the blame for chaos on our doorstep.
Peasant farmers who have no livelihood can scarcely depend on assistance from cashstrapped governments. And many families face the threat of gang recruiters, who prey on young children and punish parents who don’t submit. Thus the dangerous trek north, to Mexico and the United States, seems a less-bad option to far too many.
The Trump administration must do a better job explaining what US aid programs — totaling $2.6 billion — are doing in cooperation with our Central American neighbors to combat crime and gangs and jumpstart economic growth.
The three countries of the “Northern Triangle” are more than doubling that investment with their own money to create opportunity for their citizens. Of course, each of these governments — along with Mexico — should do more to deter would-be migrants from making the risky journey.
Trump — whose administration recommended draconian cuts in these programs — can do his part by shooting straight with his base, recognizing that Mexico won’t be paying for a wall and the bridges we build through international commerce and cooperation are a good investment in a more secure border and a safer neighborhood.
Such straight talk might build bridges here at home as well.