Is the current Central American caravan legitimate?
Among the Central American migrants walking toward USA right now, there’s legitimate needs. Will the journey to America meet those needs? Are they being taken advantage of for political purposes? I don’t know the full answer to those questions but both anti-migrant and pro-migrant activists have valid points.
El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras migrants form the majority of this newest migrant caravan, and many are seeking asylum. From one region, they are leaving their country because crops have failed for years. From another region, it’s the corruption where they have to pay “taxes” to the gangs or be killed. For many migrants though they refer to a high level of violence including womens’ report of domestic violence. Still the statistics at https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/2017-homicide-round-up/ show that Honduras’ homicide rate has decreased in 2017. Migrants do have reasons to try again elsewhere, I don’t doubt that, it’s the timing and their methods that are wrong.
These migrants have heart-rending stories, and though we can accept more migrants into our country, this use of brute force as a caravan does makes me suspicious on the behind the scenes motivation. Forcing their way across borders smacks of arrogance. Ignoring USA’s warnings to stay home and work on their asylum requests legally also makes me suspicious.
USA’s immigration laws needed an upgrade for years and this imbalance is causing severe humanitarian crises now. Yet allowing in mass volumes of migrants is not the answer. I agree with much of Newt Gingrich said https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/newt-gingrich-the-caravan-is-an-attack-on-america-stop-the-caravan-now and would love to lay the blame on politicians not working together. But someone is raising false hopes that a better life is measured by absence of suffering. All citizens everywhere have the right to flourish and grow. Moving to a new country is not a sure-fire method of gaining a better life and it is terrible that too many migrants are losing their lives over this issue.
(photo from whitehouse.gov)
