The Politicians’ Wall

Barack Obama mistakenly believes that Central American leaders can stop people from going to the U.S. in search of better opportunities. Central American leaders, without batting an eye, are trying to take President Obama for a fool by convincing him that if the U.S. gives them $2 billion, it will stop people from immigrating illegally. In what fantasy world do politicians live? The northern immigration of people from Central America has only one reason: the search for a better life. It can be argued that immigration occurs for security or economic reasons, or to reunite children and families, but in all cases the expectation is the same: to live better. This is something that politicians cannot change, even if they criminalize, and spend millions of tax dollars fighting, illegal immigration.

As long as the lack of opportunities in their countries of origin exists and there is the possibility of finding opportunities in another country, people will have a huge incentive to take on that journey, even with the risks and dangers that it entails.

If the U.S. has not been able to stop the flow of undocumented immigrants in spite of the construction of the great wall and the billions of dollars that it spends on “border security,” who in their right mind can believe that Central American politicians are going to be able to stop their citizens from leaving? They won’t succeed, even if they build a wall along the border between Guatemala and Mexico, in the style of the Berlin Wall.

If the U.S. thinks that focusing on the “coyotes,” or smugglers, will solve the problem, it is wrong again. Coyotes are not the reason people decide to immigrate. They will do it with or without the coyotes. This new failed war against the smugglers will only make the journey more expensive and dangerous than it is now.

There are no short-term answers. In our case, our countries have to recognize that more investment, job creation and wealth are needed, none of which is created by governments, but governments can hinder them. What policymakers should do is reduce or eliminate all barriers, obstacles and deterrents to invest, as well as effectively utilize the resources they already have to reduce uncertainty and dispense justice.

In the case of the U.S., it has to understand that as long as people find work opportunities there, they will do whatever it takes to get to America. There are many jobs that Americans are not willing to do, which are the same jobs that undocumented immigrants perform. If this were not the case, people would stop going to the U.S., and the approximately 12 million undocumented immigrants living there could not survive. U.S. politicians have to find a way to legalize them.

One of the main problems that is discussed is the use of social services by undocumented immigrants. If that is the problem, perhaps the U.S. can give them a work permit in order to legalize them and stipulate, for example, that they pay for social services when the tax revenue they produce is not enough.

If U.S. politicians listen to their Central American counterparts, that $2 billion will only serve the purpose of fattening the wallets of the latter, without making an impact on immigration at all.