Latin American Program in the News: Child Migrants
Latin American Program Associate Direcor Eric L. Olson discusses the growing number of unaccompanied minors migrating into the United States.
Eric L. Olson, Associate Director of the Latin American Program is interviewed on CSPAN about the growing unaccompanied minor immigration crisis. The interview is in three parts and can be accessed via the links below.
"52,000 young people, minors, have shown up at the border since October of last year, with maybe as many as 60,000 coming before the end of the year.
[...]
There are probably three factors. First there's historic migration from Central America [...] A second factor is economic. This is a region that is extremely poor [...] and the third, and this is the more recent phenomonon, has been a dramatic increase in homocides and violence related to two things; one drug trafficking, and the other gangs in those countries."
About the Author
Eric L. Olson
Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives, Seattle International Foundation
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
