By Carlton Joseph

Immigration of English people to North America started over 400 years ago in what is now known as Jamestown, Virginia, and later came people from France, Spain and the Netherlands.  Most of the native population was killed off or died from diseases brought by these new settlers.  These settlers then brought millions of enslaved Africans to aid in the establishment and survival of the colonies.  Later, the  13 colonies, were upset over paying taxes and not being able to vote in British elections,. This resulted in the Revolutionary War and the United States (US) Declaration of Independence.

This is a brief background of immigration, voluntary and involuntarily, to the US.  In 1776, the combined population of the entire nation was about  only 2.5 million, including 500,000 slaves. In 1803 the Louisiana purchase doubled the size of the country to 5 million.  To populate and develop this vast region immigration from Europe was encouraged and the population grew from 23 million in 1850 to more than 76 million in 1900. 

Immigrants were still needed to build the roads, bridges, railroads and other infrastructure and to settle the west,  Congress passed  “The Homestead Act” in 1862.  Through this legislation,  the available public lands were distributed to private individuals.  People could receive free title to 160 acres if they were willing to live on, cultivate and improve the land for five years, the exact  period  of time required to become a U.S. citizen.

Today, the US population stands at more than 332 million and  immigration is no longer seen as a priority and the country’s infrastructure, although in need of repair and upgrade, is in reasonable  shape..  The country has spent trillions on defense and war that has created chaos on its Southern border, the middle East, Africa and other parts of the world.   The US has funded the military in Honduras, Guatemala and in El Salvador (Northern Triangle), that is killing thousands of people and forcing people to flee their countries to the US.

More than a year before Biden took office, the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) warned that without U.S. interference, worsening corruption, unrelenting violence and growing economic insecurity fueled by climate change in the “Northern Triangle” would result in “yet another Central American migrant crisis on the Southern Border.”  In effect, the CFR is asking the Biden administration to reverse what has been US policy in the area for the past one hundred years.

The geopolitical games that the US played during the cold war, and continues to play, have left these nations without physical infrastructure, and without any government structure that favors democracy.  And, past US policy has resulted in lawlessness and terror, rampant crime, corruption, and children and adults being murdered in these countries.  In addition, the Trump Administration “Remain in Mexico” policy forced thousands of asylum seekers to wait in dangerous conditions across the border in Mexico while their cases made their way through the immigration court system in the US, a process that could take years.

There are now over 15,000 unaccompanied migrant children in U.S. custody and the number of people seeking asylum at the southern border shows no sign of slowing down. The Biden administration is insisting that the “border is closed” and is pushing Mexico and Guatemala to stem the flow of migrants.  The Biden administration has also maintained the Trump policy which allows the U.S. to deny almost all asylum seekers on public health grounds.

I asked one Trinidadian naturalized citizen how she felt about the unaccompanied children at the Southern border. Her response was emphatic. she said: “It is unthinkable, that any woman would allow her child to leave her country unaccompanied to the US border,” she said. In fact she said she  believed that the parents of these children were at the border observing them go to the immigration and monitoring their progress. 

I also asked an illegal Latina immigrant her opinion.  Her response was that 80 per cent or more of  those who come to the border  did so because there was  a relative or some friend waiting for that person or that family in the US.  She suggested that the administration should try to reunite these families and children with their sponsors who are waiting for them in the US, instead of spending millions of dollars on temporary makeshift shelters for children and families.      

Past U.S. policies, the COVID-19 pandemic and devastation caused by hurricanes have further deteriorated conditions in those countries.  Alejandros Mayorkas, Homeland Security Secretary, informed the nation that the US expects to encounter more individuals on the southwest border than in the last 20 years and that Border Patrol Agents are working around the clock to process the flow at the border, and to find sufficient space to house those apprehended.

Americans must realize that people leave their homes and undertake the dangerous trek from northern Central America to the southern U.S. border because they believe that they have no future in their country.  I  am reminded of Shadow’s calypso “Poverty is Hell.” These asylum seekers  must think that their country is hell.  

The Biden administration has outlined a number of steps it plans to take in order to prevent a similar crisis in the future.  These  include: investing $4 billion to address the root causes of migration in Central America, including increased aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, while also developing new legal pathways for people in those countries to seek protections in the United States without making the dangerous journey to the border.

Biden has also pledged to fully revamp the asylum system within the United States, including implementing systemic reforms to enhance access to legal counsel and shortening the time it takes for asylum claims to be adjudicated.   Importantly,  Biden has put Vice President Kamala Harris in charge of efforts to stem the increased flow of immigrants and asylum seekers along the southern border of the United States.

This crisis is not new. It has been has been kicked down the road by many Democratic and Republican Administrations. Demonizing migrants and building walls will not stop parents from doing whatever they can to save their children, and people have been migrating throughout history in order to survive.

 Congress must fix the problem by revamping the immigration laws to better reflect the demands and the needs of the nation and those who want to become Americans. The government must give desperate people a reason to believe that legal immigration is better than the dangerous journey they are now taking.    

Some Americans believe that the country is not able to accept new immigrants.  Public schools are in a state of progressive decay and are trying to reopen safely and cannot handle an influx of non-English speaking students requiring remediation.  Medical facilities and staff are stressed from dealing with a year of  the COVID-19 pandemic.  The national debt now surpasses $28 trillion, the interest on which will become unaffordable should inflation cause interest rates to rise.   Some  believe that we should not add to the current population until they can figure out how to care for those who are already here.

The immigration crisis will not be solved with this administration, but Americans must remain vigilant and hold any administration accountable, regardless of political party, with respect to our treatment of children seeking refuge, who are fleeing countries that are in turmoil, especially because of our geopolitical policies over the past several decades. These past policies need to be remedied, beginning today.

(Trinidad-born Carlton Joseph who lives in Washington DC, is a close observer of political develoments in the United States.)