There’s an old vaudeville wisecrack about if we had some ham we could make a ham and cheese sandwich if we had some cheese. That’s what I thought of when I read this post at RealClearPolicy by Juan Jose Daboub and Gonzalo Schwarz. They say the way to solve our problems with immigration from Central America is to invest in the economies of countries there:
Imagine bringing millions of jobs to the region by nearshoring or re-shoring jobs from China and other countries outside of the Americas to the Western Hemisphere. While this sounds daunting, the rewards would be immense for opportunity and job creation. The pandemic-induced slowdown in international logistics and production chains shined a glaring light on the over-reliance of the United States on Chinese manufacturing. Suddenly the thought of having logistics and production systems in Central America – much closer to home for the U.S. – goes from inconceivable to a winning proposition for everyone involved. Some might argue that it’s even a matter of U.S. national security to find more congenial international partners.
I agree with that as far as it goes but, sadly, it’s a lot tougher than it sounds. The reason these countries are in the shape they are is bad government and there really is no practical way to make an end-run around their governments. The strategy proposed by the authors is, I wish I could say surprisingly, to fund an endeavor of theirs:
To make these ideas actionable, an investment strategy would envision more private partnerships and collaboration among businesspeople in Central America and the U.S. One such example is the recently created ThinkHUGE initiative. (HUGE stands for Honduras, USA, Guatemala and El Salvador Business and Investment Council) This is a private-sector-led effort for impact investment that will create thousands of jobs in the region by fostering conditions for capitalizing on nearshoring opportunities in textiles, pharmaceuticals, and other industries, as well as investing in key infrastructure projects, including U.S. technology-based energy and telecommunications. ThinkHUGE envisions that small and medium enterprises in the United States run by Central American immigrants will also be encouraged to expand their markets and work with local businesspeople in Central America.
Now all they need to do is demonstrate how that money is just not going to disappear. What provisions do they foresee for oversight?
Spend that money on border enforcement. The problems that they have in the northern triangle are coming here.
The way I see it people who live in affluent peaceful neighborhoods think that is normal and problems with corruption and violence in Central America are not and need to be fixed.
They’re blinded by their affluence. Conditions in the Northern Triangle are caused by the default human attributes, greed and fear.
We can’t help if we can’t maintain law and order here, and even then our options are very limited. But if cartels begin to threaten and kill the families of American police and judges, it will be as effective here as in Mexico.
Get ready to see our police wearing ski masks to protect themselves and their families.