The Southern Migration Crisis

Offering his trenchant views on our border problems, a Mexican citizen residing in the United States points out that migrant labor—despite the surrounding “fake sensationalism”—is a necessity. And while he’s at it, he proposes a basis for a solution

By Francisco Peláez

After residing in the United States, Mexican migrants are held at a security fence before being deported. Photo by BBC World Service.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .

January 18, 2025
For many years, illegal immigration in the United States was associated mainly with Mexico. Today it comes not only from Latin America but, reportedly, from many more parts of the world—some as remote as China and the Philippines.

Whether legal or illegal, not only in the United States but in Europe as well, migration has reached such levels that we’re finally coming to a stark realization: What makes outsiders try to relocate today has nothing to do with the country they’re from, their ancestry, religion, language, financial worth, or physiognomy. Finally, the world seems to be awakening to the fact that those who leave their countries and risk their future—despite threats and legal limitations—have one thing in common: their vulnerability, a well-known, widespread condition with an immense array of causes.

Now, as it happens, a key, irrefutable workforce issue has emerged: The United States, continuing its efforts to expand its economy, has a need for migrants. Yet politicians and their followers, when discussing migration from across the southern border, fail to address, timely and sufficiently, this pressing concern. Although it is yet to be determined if the current job openings in the U.S. would be suitable for recent immigrants, it is worth noting that post-pandemic job openings rose to 8.1 million this past November, up from 7.8 million in October, according to The Washington Post. 

How the U.S. Benefits from Migrants in the Workforce

It is hard to tell if tolerating migration to the U.S. (as has occurred for the past hundred years or more!) has or has not been by design. But immigrants, legal and illegal, have clearly benefited this country. (Isn’t immigration, in fact, basic to what constitutes the United States, and how it has thrived?) Studies have been made assessing multiple benefits that recent immigrants, in particular, have brought to this country; an American Immigration Council report, for example, “reveals that an impressive 44% of Fortune 500 companies in 2023, equating to 224 companies, were founded by immigrants or their children.”

But the really compelling benefit—the standout—that the current generation of Latin American migrants brings to the U.S. is this: Once here, they are willing—perhaps by ignorance but surely by sheer determination—to work for salaries well below those determined by U.S. state and federal regulations. Has anyone yet calculated how profitable such cheap labor has been, over the decades, to U.S. businesses?

The incidence of low-salaried undocumented migrants needs to be carefully assessed, granted. But it’s a mistake to focus on the wrongdoings of a marginal number of so-called illegals while ignoring the benefits they provide—not to mention the fake sensationalism surrounding undocumented migrants that sells so well.

For years, illegal migration to the U.S. has occurred because the populations south of the border—not only in Mexico but in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Haiti, and Venezuela, among other nations—know that they will likely fare better economically here than in their home countries. And that’s even taking into account the disadvantages they must endure in the U.S., which is why, despite their vulnerability, Latin American migrants have continually risked dangerous illegal crossings. In the past, these crossings were tolerated by the U.S. because of the benefits the migrants brought with them. And yes, migration is also exacerbated by political, social, and economic problems in every country around the world, including in the U.S.

Migrants waiting in line to surrender at the U.S. Border Patrol near McAllen, Texas. Photo by Mani Albrecht, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .

While placing trust in news sources can often be a tricky proposition, it appears that border-crossing attempts have grown exponentially, with the number of “completed” crossings having increased abruptly—even as law enforcement tightens along the border. According to usafacts.org, the monthly “border encounters” at the southern border grew from approximately from 60,000 to 350,000 between October 2019 and December 2023 (Statistics on unauthorized US immigration and US border crossings by year), while Wikipedia reports, “In recent decades, immigration to nearly every Western country has risen sharply, with the U.S. growing from 9 percent (1990) to 15 percent (2020) of the population born abroad.” But if the reasons behind this burst of world migration were recognized, the logical solution would be for all involved to join forces. Pointing fingers or imposing unilateral, draconian restrictions only makes things worse—and, to the thinking mind, is counterintuitive.

Do data exist to bring appropriate measures to handle the migration numbers? That’s questionable. It’s quickly assumed that migrants arrive with a variety of circumstances—often difficult or even nightmarish. So dealing with the influx numbers would require not just adaptability but a dynamic, complex, and very expensive outpouring of assistance. We need to determine certain facts: How many immigrants—real and potential—are involved? How many already reside in the U.S.? For how long? Men? Women? Children? What are their ages and qualifications? Can it be determined how many of them live here illegally and what they’ve been doing to survive? Would the employment taxes deducted from their salaries be returned to them on their deportation?  And what about the status of their family members in the U.S., whether born here or not?

Church leaders protesting near the San Diego border wall. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .

They Need Us, We Need Them—Now and in the Future

And on the receiving end, which U.S. industries need additional labor? And which would suffer from the loss of the deported employees? How many in the workforce, and in which capacities, are we talking about? What and how much are needed to process their migration or deportation? Where will they be housed as their cases are accepted for review? What’s more, how can Mexico, not to mention Canada, deal with the flow of migrants? How many refugees can these border countries absorb?  And for how many years would a panoply of efforts be needed to solve these problems?

In addition, the new administration coming to Washington is full of alleged plans for mass deportations and additional red-tape restrictions on immigration. Yet it doesn’t appear that any legislation is in the works to prevent, avoid, lessen the impact of, or improve such plans. There are two possible reasons for this. First, the instigator of these plans has a reputation for not always doing what he says he’ll do. And as a result, no one seems ready to face any likely consequences—at least not before it’s too late and deportations have occurred. Furthermore, the parties involved north and south of the border have vastly different expectations of what the crossings will entail. As a result, deep divisions are likely to form. There will be those in favor and those against—some partially and some completely. Julius Caesar had a term for this: Divide and conquer. Seemingly, though, this time the aim is to manipulate rather than conquer.

I confess that I’m deliberately disconnected from media, social and otherwise. But the questions I point to seem to be just the start of the issues that need to be addressed and answered. A rolling up of sleeves is needed to map and plan courses of action. And let’s keep in mind that any response made mainly to please the political party in power is likely to solve nothing and may do more harm than good.

A child in a Tijuana shelter, waiting to cross the border to San Diego after traveling from Honduras to Mexico with family members. Photo from EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid/Flickr.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using Humane Principles Cooperatively

It seems clear that finding solutions for migration to the United States is very challenging, to say the least. No one individual or legislative body has all the answers or will be able to implement border solutions without the cooperation of all involved, regardless of who is president, regardless of political opinions or nationalities.

But what about unilateral actions? Jacob Soboroff’s 2024 book Separated: Inside an American Tragedy gives us a glimpse of what such decision-making may cause. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency, Soboroff reports, by 2019 one such action resulted in the separation of thousands of children from their families crossing the border. This was not only inhumane but solved or deterred nothing; the number of “border encounters” increased at an accelerated rate soon afterward.

Reasonable, capable, and well-intentioned initiatives and implementations are essential for confronting and solving the problems caused by migration. There is no other choice. And then, of course, we all must accept the fact that regardless of the solutions, we’re talking, regrettably, about years—many years—before we see any tangible results.

Francisco Peláez is an engineer born in Mexico. Until he retired in 2019, he managed large construction projects in Mexico, Central America, and the United States. He has lived in Texas for the last 40 years. ezbuilders@sbcglobal.net