Migration in Central America: Magnitude, Causes and Proposed Solutions

Dinorah Azpuru and Violeta Hernandez have a nice overview of the causes and consequences of migration from Central America to the United States in the Konrad Adenauer's current issue on Migration and Refugees. Here is the introduction for their Migration in Central America: Magnitude, Causes and Proposed Solutions.

Migration from Central America to other countries, particularly the United States, has been occurring for many decades. But in the summer of 2014 it reached crisis proportions when thousands of Central American minors – most of them not accompanied by an adult and after a dangerous journey through Mexico – crossed the border between Mexico and the United States and willingly surrendered themselves to the U.S. Border Patrol. It was the tip of the iceberg of deep-rooted problems in Central America (more specifically in the Northern Triangle) that involve not only poverty and lack of access to basic services such as health care or education, but also growing violence in those societies. Moreover, it exposed the dysfunction of the U.S. immigration system.

These incidents made headlines for several weeks and prompted the adoption of short-term measures to stop the flow of undocumented young migrants and women with small children. Government-led media campaigns to stop the migrants, the deportation of many of them by U.S. and Mexican authorities, as well as the late summer heat in the desert areas of the border helped to slow down the upsurge. However, the underlying causes remained and normal patterns of migration continued. In November 2014, the three presidents of the Northern Triangle – Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras – launched in Washington D.C. a long-term plan, called “The Alliance for Prosperity”, to promote development in these countries and thus discourage migrants from leaving their homes. Therefore, it is worth examining the extent of migration from Central America in recent years, presenting a profile of the migrants, and discussing the push and pull factors, as well as other structural variables that contribute to migration. An assessment of the feasibility of the Alliance for Prosperity will complement the analysis.

It's a good, comprehensive piece that would work well in an undergraduate class on Latin American politics, immigration or some other related material.