Child Migrants: 'Promises and PR' No Match for Power of 'U.S. Myth' (Diario Co Latino, El Salvador)
"There is no quick fix; no controls can contain hope. The prevailing
myth of a better life in the United States, achieved at any cost, the mirage of
better life in the land of the eagle and dollar, cannot be vanquished with promises,
PR campaigns, social media, or future projects. It can only be defeated through
economic, social, and human realities. Perhaps it is time to understand that
the concept of economically active migrating populations doesn't apply in this
case, which after all is said and done, has to do with children who want to be
with their parents."
Are
migrant boys and girls (child migrants) a result of poverty, or is this a new
phenomenon of social disintegration? Generally, the causes of migration have
been the same through all of human history, the main banner being liberty - religious,
political, democratic, economic, human rights related, etc. Within these
historical concepts, one can find the characteristics and even some new
tendencies for the boys and girls now knocking at the door of the United States.
It is due to a multiplicity of these earlier criteria. Nevertheless, it is
significant that this cohort is not economically active, nor productive. If
they are between 8 and 17 years of age, they haven't yet completed their
formative years. This goes against the belief that only adults migrate. On the
other hand, child migrants in question have been deceived by their elders and induced
to make this decision - a criminal instigation, even if there is no legal
jurisdiction over such cases.
If
in the 20th century, migrants made such decisions for themselves and at their
own risk, now in 21st, criminal gangs have emerged that profit from the hopes for
family re-unification in a foreign land. It is a multi-million dollar business,
and the forms of criminal association in this digital age are built around
social networks, satellite communications, organizations rooted in third
countries, cooperating families, legal institutions, etc. Money counts more
than government policies, and even the state admits they use helicopters,
boats, ground transportation, etc. It is a multinational or "multi-Latino"
network with an enormous organic illegal capacity.
Using
the term "child migrants" in this case is the media's way of obscuring
a clear legal qualification. In real life, "migration" is a scorned,
racist, and derogatory epithet. The receiving nations should identify them as
human beings with the status of refugees: economic, political, escaping from
gang violence, etc. In any event, it is the receiving nation who will qualify them.
They don't wear signs that would identify them. Those boys and girls are human
beings seeking refuge from genuine fears. When they ask for amnesty, we see these
boys and girls as refugees, a non-discriminatory category for children who have
parents in the United States, while those who don't could more humanely be
qualified as temporary refugees.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
There
is no quick fix; no controls can contain hope. The prevailing myth of a better
life in the United States, achieved at any cost, the mirage of better life in
the land of the eagle and dollar, cannot be vanquished with promises, PR campaigns,
social media, or future projects. It can only be defeated through economic,
social, and human realities. Perhaps it is time to understand that the concept of
economically active migrating populations doesn't apply in this case, which
after all is said and done, has to do with children who want to be with their
parents.
