Border Solutions from the Inside

Abstract

This essay provides an analysis of urgent and pragmatic solutions to the persistent forced migration challenges in Central America’s Northern Triangle that President Joe Biden could undertake in the first two years of his administration. Its focus is on measures that the United States can undertake to help these nations avert the enormous humanitarian crisis brought about by the pandemic and recent hurricanes, including starvation, a surge in violence, and a rise in extreme poverty, all of which are fueling an increase in forced migration from the region. Specifically, the essay is focused on two measures: (1) Stabilizing the flow of remittances from the U.S. to the region; and (2) increasing and strategically reorienting aid to these nations to the most vulnerable communities affected by the pandemic.

This essay was expanded from a presentation at the University of Miami symposium Defending and Promoting Civil Rights in a Time of Coronavirus organized by the University of Miami and Chair of the AALS Civil Rights Section Professor Elizabeth M. Iglesias. The piece is forthcoming in April 2021 in the University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review.