President Biden's Misunderstanding of Migration Matters
By Nayla Rush on April 6, 2021
In his first press conference, President Biden addressed the ongoing flows of Central American migrants entering the United States illegally. His remarks generated numerous commentaries to which I'm adding a couple of my own.
Biden denied any responsibility for the new surge of migrants across the border, linking Central American migrant flows to in-country "push factors" (hurricanes, poverty, gang violence, etc. — which, as an aside, are not grounds for refugee status) while dismissing "pull factors" such as welcoming immigration policies. But the president of the United States does have a major role in converting "migration aspirations" into "actual migration". Biden is also, perhaps unknowingly, setting the stage for more migration in the future as "migration typically fosters more migration". Finally, his bet to partly halt migration from Central America through development aid ($4 billion in four years) is a wrong one: Development in the short and medium term actually leads to more migration.
A number of questions relating to the border crisis remained unanswered following the press conference: Knowing that unaccompanied minors from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico need legal documents such as passports, birth certificates, parental authorizations, etc. to be able to travel, what type of documentation (if any) do these migrants carry with them as they cross the U.S. border? Is Biden releasing children to U.S.-based parents or to potential traffickers? How are "sponsors" being vetted and documents verified? Finally, is Biden reuniting families by releasing children into the care of family members already here, or dividing families by encouraging parents to send their children to the United States?
https://cis.org/Rush/President-Bidens-Misunderstanding-Migration-Matters
