by Evan Schroedel, candidate for HD 88, Florence
Border crisis demands teamwork, innovative tactics.
Imagine one morning a homeowner discovers that overnight his basement has flooded.
The first step is to pump water out of the basement. That done, a couple of options remain: keep pumping the water out or, more logically, discover the source of the leak and stop it before it floods in.
I propose this simple scenario can be a metaphor for dealing with our crisis at the southern border.
Many refugees seeking asylum in the United States come from the so-called northern triangle of Central America, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. According to the American Council on Foreign Relations, governments in this trio of poor nations have made efforts to mitigate the violence, poverty and symptomatic corruption that spurs thousands of their disadvantaged citizens to seek haven in the United States.
Despite what extreme politicians would have us believe, the United States remains a powerful and influential nation that can sway foreign governments to help solve mutual problems.
Some recent presidential administrations have attempted to address the issues in this trio of nations including changes in foreign aid and other diplomatic means.
In fact, President Biden has proposed a $4 billion plan to address the cause of migration from Central America and, at the same time, has supported a promising strategy to stimulate international private-sector economic investment in the northern triangle.
These three nations are economically poor but resource rich. They are blessed with mineral resources including gold, silver, copper, coal and iron ore, forest resources, fish, hydroelectric power, and considerable tourism opportunities. The right foreign investment can help distribute national wealth, thus removing much of the reason for the poor to undertake a hazardous journey north.
Such innovative political, diplomatic, and business tactics offer hope for at least partial solutions to the crisis on our southern border.
Having said this, I know we must face tough realities. Republicans alone cannot solve the problem. Democrats cannot either. Lawmakers cannot legislate the problem away and law enforcement can’t arrest or detain our way to a solution. These entities must work together to craft a workable solution that is humane, fair, and effective.
Most importantly we must not demonize these desperate people who often walk thousands of miles with their families seeking a safe, more prosperous life in the United States.
Of course, some criminals inevitably join this northbound flow, but I believe – and immigration statistics support this – most of these refugees are law-abiding poor people who only want to seek safety here and be allowed to earn their place in this country.
As a nation of immigrants, I hope we never lose our ability to view these refugees objectively and with simple human compassion.