By SABRINA RODRIGUEZ.
“We need to get away from the notion that it’s just a matter of making an announcement with some kind of aid plan that would remedy all these problems,” says Eric Olson, director of policy at the Seattle International Foundation and an expert on Central America.
President Juan Orlando Hernández of Honduras figured prominently in a U.S. drug trial, but few think it will matter in a country mired in corruption. “We need to give the people of Central America a sense of hope. And that starts with fighting corruption and ending this ridiculous theft of Hondurans’ future,” says Eric L. Olson, director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives at the Seattle International Foundation.
The situation at the U.S.– Mexico border is urgent, but the crisis is in Central America. The solution to this problem cannot be a return to Trump-era policies of inhumane treatment as a policy of dissuasion. Family separation and forcing migrants to remain in makeshift shelters across the border is morally wrong and bad policy.
This paper analyzes the drivers of migration hypothesizing that persistent government failure driven in large part by corruption produces a sense of hopelessness among Central Americans that contributes to and propels their decision to migrate.
The authors, Joy Olson and Eric L. Olson, conclude that addressing weak governance and corruption helps create a national context in which individuals can see a future in their own country.
James D. Nealon, Eric L. Olson and Kurt Alan Ver Beek write about how Biden needs to follow through on a proposed Central American regional anti-corruption commission. Otherwise, U.S. aid will not stop thousands of desperate people from fleeing countries that give them little hope to survive, much less flourish.
The Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision on June 18, 2020 and officially halted the Trump administration’s attempts to end DACA. But its narrow decision also means the government can still terminate DACA if it follows the proper procedures. Only a new immigration law would provide a permanent solution.
