The Solution to the Migrant Crisis Lies South of the Border
By STEVE SLATTERY
March 14, 2023 6:30 AM
Better leadership and more economic freedom can help make these countries places their natives don’t want to leave.
The Biden administration recently announced that it would bolster asylum restrictions at the U.S.–Mexico border to crack down on unauthorized crossings. This is just a month after President Biden traveled to the border for the first time in his presidency — underscoring just how acute the migrant crisis has become.
In fiscal year 2022, U.S. immigration authorities recorded 2.38 million migrant encounters at the southwest border. According to an analysis of government data by the Migrant Policy Institute, for the first time in history, U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered more Venezuelans, Cubans, and Nicaraguans during FY 2022 than migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Adding political refugees to the influx of economic migrants has exacerbated the border crisis overwhelming cities like El Paso, Texas. As Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele said in a 2021 interview on American television, “it is obvious our country has failed to provide two basic things which are the two main drivers of immigration, which are the lack of economic opportunity and a lack of security. . . . [But] most people don’t want to leave their country. They like their country, their food, weather. . . . And they have their family members here and their friends.”
https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/03/the-solution-to-the-migrant-crisis-lies-south-of-the-border/
