Since Joe Biden took office, the US has seen the largest increase in illegal immigration along its southern border in 20 years. In March, Biden assigned VP Kamala Harris with the task of developing a comprehensive approach for addressing the underlying causes of illegal immigration at its source, primarily, poverty and corruption in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua (collectively known as the Northern Triangle). Last week, VP Harris travelled to Mexico and Central America to observe these causes first-hand.
During the two-day trip, Harris made a series of announcements that stressed the “interdependence and interconnection” of the US and its southern neighbors. She also described actions being taken to reduce poverty and corruption in Northern Triangle countries. She pledged $48 million to spur entrepreneurship, foster agricultural improvements, and build affordable housing. (The Biden Administration had already pledged $310 million in humanitarian aid and has plans to spend a total of $4 billion to boost development in the region.) Perhaps most important, however, she brought a list of companies that have pledged to invest in the region, including Microsoft, Mastercard, and Nestle. She also announced that the Justice Department would form a task force to help prosecute corruption cases and seize the American assets of those found guilty. Topping it off was the goodwill gesture of donating 500,000 COVID vaccines to the region.
The approach is the right one—tackling regional problem on a regional basis. As the future unfolds, more problems will have to be solved regionally—this is only the beginning. This is also another step toward regionalization—the growing together of nations within a region (in this case, North America). Solving problems and exploiting opportunities will be the two driving forces behind increased collaboration and coordination of nations.
While Harris’s trip does not immediately solve the problems on the southern US border (she did tell the migrants “Do not come”), it does reflect a sober long-term perspective on what it will take to fix the problem permanently. And while regionalism will take decades to emerge, and new technology to realize its potential, solving problems regionally, is a sign of things to come.
Source:
Cleve R Wootson Jr, “Harris wraps up a Latin America trip that featured sharp words to would-be immigrants,” Washington Post, accessed from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/kamala-harris-latin-america-trip/2021/06/08/279e360e-c859-11eb-81b1-34796c7393af_story.html
Nandita Bose, “Microsoft, Mastercard sign on to VP Harris’s Central America strategy” Reuters. 27 May 2021, accessed from https://www.reuters.com/business/us-vp-harris-meet-companies-groups-push-central-america-economic-growth-2021-05-27/
Photo: Erin Schaff, The New York Times
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