Officials are beginning to prepare for what could be a historic surge of migrants at the US border due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. Agency for International Development acting Administrator John Barsa said that whether or not there is a rush for the border from Latin American nations will depend on how well the US recovers after the shut down.
“If there is economic collapse in a given country, it is only natural that there will be migration flows to places where the economy is more robust,” Barsa told the Washington Examiner. “Are we concerned about the economic impacts that this might have, which could lead to migration? Absolutely.”
Another senior official told the Examiner that is it reasonable to say the amount of “refugees” coming to the nation may be “completely unprecedented,” to the point where they can’t even estimate a number.
“You’re going to have millions and millions of Latin Americans out of jobs, with governments too broke to provide even the meager social safety nets they have,” a second senior U.S. official told the Washington Examiner. “How do you measure the number of refugees that come out of that level of devastation? You can’t put a number on it, but it’s reasonable to say that it would be completely unprecedented.”
The official explained that if there is economic devastation in South American nations, and the US is perceived as doing well, there will be a heavier flow of migrants.
“If you’ve got 20% or 30% unemployment in the United States, basically Great Depression levels or worse,” that might blunt some of the interest in traveling from Latin America, the second senior official told the outlet. “There would be pressure for immigration, but depending on how bad things are perceived to be in the United States, it would be either more or less pressure than you would think.”
The official is pushing for extra foreign aid to prevent the nations crumbling and economic migrants fleeing to the US border.
“Confronted with unprecedented violence and chaos in the region that we are directly tied to, do you try to wall yourself off from the region?” the senior U.S. official said. “Or do you launch unprecedented amounts of aid and assistance to try to rebuild the region and rebuild its institutions so that you basically don’t have to live in fear of the consequences in the region?” the official said.
The officials predict that the surge won’t be immediate, but expect it to happen some time in 2021. The winner of the November presidential election may also have an impact on how bad the wave is, as presumptive Democrat nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, has vowed that he will not deport anyone for the first 100 days of his term.