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A Central American expert explains the root causes of the migrant crisis

Cindy Arnson

Program Director Cynthia J. Arnson is interviewed on Vox and provides insight on the root causes of the migrant crisis.

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"There needs to be an effort to multiply those kinds of community-based efforts sometimes by a factor of 10, or 50, or even 100 before they show real traction" 

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"I'm definitely sympathetic to the argument that there has to be a legal path to migration, or people will continue to come to the US illegally. Family members that have been in the US for years want to reunite with other family members, including children. There are not sufficient visas to allow those people to come. Legally there is no path to citizenship, currently, to deal with anything close to nearly 11 million people that are estimated to be undocumented in the US. The vast majority of them, over 70 percent, come from Mexico or Northern Triangle countries, and until we are able to fix that - including allowing people to go home and then come back, to recreate the circularity that has characterized earlier immigration systems, particularly with Mexico - it's going to be very difficult to come to some permanent solution to the problem." 

To read the full interview with Dylan Matthews, please click here

About the Author

Cindy Arnson

Cynthia J. Arnson

Distinguished Fellow, Latin America Program
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Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more

Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more