Trump Tries to Figure Out Central American Migration

Donald Trump "vented," as the The New York Times put it, about immigration yesterday. What that means is he was watching television, likely Fox News, and then got on Twitter. Yesterday he focused on DACA, showing that he isn't clear on exactly what it is. He believes that DACA is serving as a magnet for migrants moving northward from Central America. This is interesting since he in fact ended DACA. You may recall headlines from September 2017 reading "Trump Ends DACA." Something that does not exist cannot be cited as an attraction. I am in fact curious what Trump thinks DACA is.

There is a broader problem here that goes well beyond Trump and includes the Obama administration. When we hear of Central Americans on the move, we have to think of failed past policies, notably the 2009 coup in Honduras, which worsened political and social conditions there. We have to think of current support for a fraudulent election there. And no politician ever discusses the effects of 1980s policies on El Salvador. It's a bipartisan problem--our policies in Central America are never long-sighted and they keep on biting us.