Migration Crisis in Central America : What Happened in 2021, and What Should We Expect in 2022?
The record influx of illegal immigrants from Latin America is first major crisis. That faced the American President Joe Biden and his administration. Republicans accuse the president of creating a “humanitarian catastrophe” on the US southern border. The White House says nothing extraordinary is happening. Meanwhile, the UN reports on the increasing migration scale in Mexico and Central America in 2021. Nearly a million people in the region became displaced from their homes. As a result of the drug cartel war, organized crime violence, the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change.
The new US administration has signaled it will show compassion for illegal migrants and refugees crossing the country’s southern border. However, coronavirus pandemic-related asylum restrictions remain in force. Causing the US to deport hundreds of thousands of people back to Mexico and other countries of the region. While the ordinary US residents are trying to hide from pandemic consequences enjoying gambling at Zodiac Casino Canada, we will tell you what is happening now and what should we expect in 2022.
What happened in 2021?
In mid-May 2021, all leading US television channels told news from Philadelphia. Mabel Gonzalez, a resident of Honduras, was able to see her sons again for the first time after four years. From whom she was separated after trying to cross the American border.
The Gonzalez family left Honduras in the fall of 2017. After a journey of almost two months, her husband and eldest son Alex were able to secretly cross the American border. A day later, she tried to repeat the same route with her younger sons. At the border with Mexico, she was captured, and a few weeks later she was deported from the United States. Two minor children were first sent to a special center, and then, by decision of the authorities, were taken to Philadelphia, where their distant relatives lived.
Gonzalez was able to come to the US and meet her children only now, thanks to the efforts of several human rights organizations and the Family Reunification Taskforce – a government agency created by President Biden. So far, however, only two families of illegal migrants have received such permission.
Who Is Trying to Get into the USA?
According to sociologists, over the past 50 years – from 1965 to 2008, mainly single adult men from Mexico tried to illegally enter the United States. In the early 2000s, citizens of Guatemala, El Salvador and Peru joined them. Residents of Central American countries have tried to obtain asylum in the United States since the early 1980s, when civil wars were going on in some countries. According to sociologists, the current wave of migrants was provoked by famine in Guatemala and Honduras, and the destruction caused by Hurricane Eta.
After the Obama administration introduced new rules according to which minor children could not be automatically deported from the country, thousands of underage migrants rushed to the United States. Previous spikes in illegal migration have already been recorded in 2014 and 2019, but this time the number of children traveling unaccompanied by their parents breaks all records.
In March 2020, after the start of the pandemic, the Trump administration gave the border service the right to deport illegal immigrants immediately after crossing the border. But this rule did not apply to kids.
In March 2021, the US Border Patrol reported new records:
Moreover, in just one month, almost 19,000 children traveling unaccompanied by their parents became detained at the border with Mexico.
In total, 170,000 people became detained during border crossing attempts. Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of migrants from Latin American countries try to cross the US southern border in a completely legal way – passing through official border stations and then surrendering to the authorities.
What Does the Biden Administration Do?
Republicans have already accused President Biden of creating a “humanitarian catastrophe” on the southern border. Arguing that the main reason for this was his campaign promises to ease immigration bans. Even though new President Joe Biden intended to end the deportation practice, he hasn’t succeeded. The U.S. and Mexico have relaunched Trump’s controversial migrant program on December 6, 2021. Joe Biden, who promised during the campaign to treat refugees more humanely. Intended to stop this program. But a federal court, based on lawsuits from the states of Texas and Missouri, decided to resume it. The Biden administration was unable to appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court. As a result, the Mexican government decided to restore the controversial program from December 6 “for humanitarian reasons”.
Human rights organizations have accused Biden of hiding behind a court decision instead of looking for ways to avoid resuming the program.
According to human rights activists. Migrants deported to Mexico, often face forced waits up to 15 months for decisions on their asylum applications. Moreover, in extremely difficult conditions.
After a while, US Vice President Kamala Harris announced new investments in the countries of the “Northern Triangle” to reduce the level of migration from the region and restore the economy. Private companies, including Pepsico, Mastercard, and Cargill, will provide more than $1.2 billion to support the states’ economies:
- Pepsico promised to give about $190 million by 2025. Among other things, the money goes for improving the PepsiCo factory in the region. The company has long-standing enterprises in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras;
- US food company Cargill will provide $150 million to improve farm production and create economic resilience in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador;
- Additional investment will come from Parkdale Mills, CARE International, Grupo Mariposa, JDE Peet’s, and PriceSmart.
Here is how a regular American reacted to this news: “Forty-two million citizenship or asylum seekers are waiting to move. This suggests that open borders could potentially attract 42 million Hispanics. As many as 5 million plans to move to the US in the next 5 months. I don’t think that new investment commitments from private companies will change the minds of people who have already decided to move.”
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Migration Crisis in Central America : What Happened in 2021, and What Should We Expect in 2022?
