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April 14, 2022
Dear John xxxxxx,
The recent U.S. decision to wind down the pandemic-related expulsions policy that has reduced access to asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border is likely to sharply increase migration flows from Central America in the near term, thereby underlying the importance of managing regional migration differently.
No amount of border enforcement alone is likely to stop irregular migration from and through Central America, as surges in U.S. border arrivals in 2014, 2016, 2019 and last year demonstrate. There are, however, practical ways to reshape regional migration so that it becomes increasingly regular, predictable, and safe, while helping meet real labor market needs in destination countries.
In a commentary out today, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Andrew Selee provide a road map to a range of existing and forthcoming Migration Policy Institute analyses that detail the significant opportunities that exist to build a common and coordinated approach across the countries in the region that stretches from Panama to Canada.
As they write, at least four areas lend themselves to significant policy innovation to build and implement this regional approach: (1) expanding legal migration pathways, (2) strengthening humanitarian protection mechanisms, (3) rethinking migration management, and (4) investing in sustainable development in ways that recognize migrants as significant assets.
“No single strategy can be successful alone, but taken together a concerted set of strategies in these four areas could significantly reshape migration patterns,” they write.
Even as most migration throughout Central America originates there, increasing numbers of people of other nationalities are transiting the region, including Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans, and migrants from countries in Africa and Asia.
“At a time when mobility in the Western Hemisphere is more extensive and unpredictable than ever before, it is high time for honest conversations and shared actions that create channels for safe, orderly, and regular migration,” Ruiz Soto and Selee conclude.
I commend this timely and important commentary to your attention. You can read it here: www.migrationpolicy.org/news/managing-regional-migration-central-north-america-roadmap.
And find all of the work from MPI’s Building a Regional Migration System project here: www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/regional-migration.
With appreciation, as always, for your interest in our work,
Michelle Mittelstadt
Director of Communications and Public Affairs
Migration Policy Institute
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The Migration Policy Institute is an independent, nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C. dedicated to analysis of the movement of people worldwide. MPI provides analysis, development, and evaluation of migration and refugee policies at the local, national, and international levels. For more on MPI, please visit www.migrationpolicy.org.
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