IMMIGRATIONMigration to the U.S. Is on the Rise Again – but It’s Unlikely to Be Fully Addressed During the Summit of the Americas, or Anytime Soon
Migration in the Americas has dramatically increased over the past decade due to deteriorating political, economic and humanitarian conditions in several countries, particularly in Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti. High rates of crime, corruption, poverty, environmental degradation and violence all influence people’s decisions to migrate. The power of drug cartels, which can be embedded in government institutions like the police, also plays a key role in prompting migration.
An estimated 6,000 Latin American migrants are traveling together through Mexico to reach the U.S. by foot and car, marking the largest caravan yet in 2022 of migrants traveling to the U.S. border.
Their journey coincides with the ninth Summit of the Americas, a regional meeting of country leaders from North, South and Central America that happens about once every three years. This forum grants political leaders an opportunity to discuss regional issues, like democracy and trade agreements, as a group. This year, the summit is taking place in Los Angeles and runs June 8-10.
Migration is a major issue that attendees, including President Joe Biden, will take up during the meeting, following calls for regional leaders to address the growing problems associated with it.
“These are countries collapsing from poverty and violence,” caravan organizer Luis Garcia Villagran said recently. “We strongly urge those who attend the summit … to look at what is happening, and what could happen even more often in Mexico if something is not done soon.”
As a migration expert who has spent five years researching undocumented immigrants and other immigrants with different kinds of legal protection in the U.S., I think it is important to understand what the Biden administration has done to address migration, and how this has affected U.S. foreign relations with Latin American countries.
Here are three points that can help make sense of migration trends along the U.S.-Mexico border and their influence on regional politics.
Why Is Migration a Hot Topic During the Summit of the Americas?
Migration across South, Central and North America is on the rise – and has a significant effect on almost every country in the Western Hemisphere. These effects range from the money that migrants send back to their families in their country of origin to the role they play in labor markets.
Migration in the Americas has dramatically increased over the past decade due to deteriorating political, economic and humanitarian conditions in several countries, particularly in Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti.
High rates of crime, corruption, poverty, environmental degradation and violence all influence people’s decisions to migrate. The power of drug cartels, which can be embedded in government institutions like the police, also plays a key role in prompting migration.
