Getting Migration in the Americas Right: A National Interest-Driven Approach

Violence, poverty, political instability and climate change are fueling migration to the U.S. from other western hemisphere countries. According to the authors of this paper, the U.S. must embrace a principled, cooperative and pragmatic approach to address this humanitarian crisis. In “Getting Migration in the Americas Right: A National Interest-Driven Approach” the Center for American Progress lays out recommendations for how the U.S. might best manage the migration situation in the Western Hemisphere. The report argues that the U.S. must abandon its deterrence-only approach and instead seek to manage migration through “mitigation.”  For example, knowing that environmental degradation is a key driver of migration, the U.S. could assist populations in vulnerable areas through crop diversification, water conservation and reforestation. Efforts like this require collective responses from local, national and regional stakeholders in both the public and private sectors. As a regional leader, the U.S. is able to provide the resources necessary to coordinate a collaborative approach to managing migration. Finally, the report argues, the U.S. must abandon its nativist and cruel efforts at deterrence and adopt a more humane approach to immigration and border management -- one that sets a positive example in its treatment of migrant populations. The alternative is increased border militarization and continuation of the humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. (Courtney Grant for The Immigrant Learning Center’s Public Education Institute)

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