By Diana Washington Valdez
(reprinted by permission from the El Paso Times)
A government report shows that the United States military has had a front-row seat to the massive violence and corruption in the countries that are behind the surge of undocumented child immigrants into the U.S.
“In some countries, homicides are approaching crisis levels. High levels of violence are driving Central American citizens to seek refuge in other countries, including the United States,” according to the U.S. Southern Command’s report that Marine Gen. John F. Kelly presented to the House Armed Services Committee earlier this year.
“Driven by economic pressures and rising criminal violence, the number of Hondurans, Guatemalans, and Salvadorans attempting to cross the U.S. Southwest border increased 60 percent in 2013,” the report said.
The report also voiced concerns about cuts into Southern Command’s budget in light of rapidly expanding drug-trafficking networks, its need to continue counterterrorist and counternarcotics operations and its humanitarian efforts in the region.
President Barack Obama described the surge as a “humanitarian situation” but anti-immigrant activists are taking to the streets to protest an alleged “invasion.” Political rivals who blamed the president for the crisis want to send the child immigrants back to their countries as quickly as possible.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, recently told reporters that he wants to send the Central Americans back to their countries and also put an end to the president’s “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA), which protects the “Dreamers,” undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and can remain for the time being if they meet certain guidelines.
