Cases of illegal migration of children from Central America to the United States of America have drawn the attention of the current US administration. In response to curbing the growing number of illegal immigrants, the United States government, led by President Trump, has imposed strict rules on illegal immigrants. Despite strict measures to deter illegal immigrants, Central American and Mexican citizens are willing to take the risks necessary to settle in the United States.
Children are not left behind as they seek to move from their home countries to the United States. Several factors favor cases of illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America to the United States. Based on the documentary "Which Way Home", the essay addresses the thesis that the social and economic conditions in Central America and Mexico favor illegal immigration to the United States.
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In the documentary Which Way Home, viewers are exposed to a group of Central American children who embark on a very risky journey through Mexico to the United States. The main driver that drives children to migrate away from their homes is the search for a better life in general. However, it should be noted that each of the children in the film has a different perspective and desire to immigrate to the United States.
The first character to meet the viewers of the documentary was Kevin. Kevin, 14, is a Honduran whose main objective in this risky journey is to get a good job that will help him support his mother in Central America (Rebecca Cammisa, s.p.). Thus, it can be argued that Central American children and adults are willing to settle in the United States without documents to secure well-paying jobs.
According to Consumers in Central America & the Caribbean (12), approximately 25 million men and women in Central America are unemployed. This creates a desire in the young man, in this case Kevin, to explore the outside world in search of work.
Juan Carlos, a 13-year-old boy, is of the same race as Kevin. Juan's main reason for immigrating to the United States illegally is to support his family. The documentary reveals Juan's awareness of taking care of his mother and his brothers after his father abandoned them. An evaluation of Juan's reasons for embarking on this risky journey shows that social factors contribute to cases of illegal migration in the United States.
Many countries around the world have specific rules and regulations that define what happens in case of family separation; The father is responsible for taking care of his own children. Central America does not have these rules. If they did, they would not be strictly observed. Among the defined situations, it can be argued that imperfect political institutions in Central America contribute to cases of illegal immigration of children.
For example, Juan could not have chosen to immigrate to the United States illegally if the Central American legal system had a specific means to help neglected children.
Family reunification is an additional factor driving the illegal migration of children to the United States. The United States attracts many workers from Central America. These workers are offered jobs in various low-wage pockets, such as housekeeping, office janitors, and farm laborers.
Although these workers send financial aid to their children at home, they do not earn enough money to pay for frequent trips to Central America. The general implications of the professed ideology are cases of family separation. The goal of achieving a family reunion with their parents, children, and adults in Central America ends with them embracing the idea of illegally crossing the borders of the United States.
The declared ideology is expressed in the video in the case of José, a Salvadoran. José lives with his aunt after his mother immigrated to the United States in search of a well-paying job. José has not seen his mother for three years, after she left for the United States. Family reunification is a factor closely linked to unemployment in Central America. Considering the case of José, it could be argued that there were not enough job opportunities in the United States. José's mother could not have traveled to the United States, this fact could have prevented José from immigrating to the United States illegally.
Factors contributing to the remaining character's desire to travel to the United States relate to the high rate of domestic violence in Central America. Although it is not clear from the documentary that Jairo, a 14-year-old boy, probably fled from his father, who came forward to disinherit him after his mother was murdered. On the other hand, Yuri ran away from his mother and got involved in drug abuse. The main reason why children run away from their mothers is attributed to domestic violence.
According to Bruno, Andorra et al. (98), children in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala face high rates of child abuse. Cases of child abuse in these regions are attributed to poverty, drug abuse, and alcoholism. Most of the children in the documentary are from Honduras and are therefore the targets of domestic violence cases. If they cross the US border, they are eligible for special US immigration status.
Watching the documentary Which Way Home reveals that the main problem is children fleeing a life of poverty, crime, unemployment and lack of support from their family, friends and government. The solution that can prevent immigrant children from leaving home is to seek a better life in the United States. Improving access to social services could be the first step to prevent immigrant children from crossing the US border into Mexico, putting their lives at risk. The social services that most of the boys in the documentary lack are decent housing, living conditions and decent jobs for their parents.
Most of the children in the documentary are still of school age, but are wandering the streets of their respective countries as they plan to become immigrants to the United States. According to the documentary, none of the children go to school because they don't have money to support them and that forces their parents to throw them out on the street. This factor shows that if there was a proper education system that allowed children to study and learn for free, most would go to school (Armstrong et al., 29). In this sense, it means that children would not think of fleeing their home countries if they could spend their entire youth in school. In addition, the South American government can ensure that free education is compulsory and accessible for young people and that it offers high-quality studies that can guarantee student excellence.
Most of the South American countries where immigrant children come from do not have adequate institutions to ensure that their citizens do not suffer social and economic difficulties. Social protection measures may also include the provision of a monthly allowance to support parents who are unable to care for their children.
The children in the documentary risk their lives by traveling to the United States to alleviate their parents' poverty and alleviate their misery. These problems are caused by the poor planning of the government, the lack of anticipation of the economic needs of each region and the promotion of citizen independence. The self-sufficiency actions that South American governments can take will, in turn, allow the parents of children who wish to emigrate from their countries to stay, since they see a better future there (Lewallen, 729).
Policies that provide families with time and financial resources to care for their children and the elderly play an essential role in alleviating poverty and improving sustainability (Richter, 103). Juan Carlos, Olga and Freddy discover that one of their parents or one of their brothers had already immigrated to the United States, leaving them behind. The conditions that led them to leave the South American states are due to the fact that there were terrible economic hardships that they could not bear.
That's why these parents came to the United States to improve their lives, and that's why their children follow them. These are the reasons why improving economic and social protection services play a key role in ensuring that their respective governments cover both adults and children. Government policies with strategic and clearly defined measures can ensure that no citizen suffers as the government can protect you from any uncertainty.
Deteriorating health care in South American states is also encouraging children to migrate to the United States because their parents are dead or sick, leaving them unable to support themselves financially if they fall ill. Fito and Yuriko show how they were looking for a way to get to the US because their families back home couldn't support them due to different circumstances. While Yuriko is addicted to sniffing glue, Fito left her grandmother because she was too sick to care for both of them. Cheap health services, better accessibility and quality care can guarantee that the citizens of South America and
The Latin region can improve the medical care of its citizens (Doubova, 5). By taking these steps, governments can ensure that their citizens are protected, resulting in adequate and quality healthcare. They are not affected financially.
Most of the problems that lead immigrant children to flee their home countries can be easily resolved by their governments. Most of the reasons immigrant children seek an opportunity to live in the United States are directly related to family members. However, there is an indirect link between their situation and the way the governments of these regions are run or function.
Which Way Home exposes the dangers immigrant children face as they search for a better life and security for the future, while their countries abandon them and their parents. Later he shows the dangers of traveling because they try to cross the Mexican border into the United States illegally and have the protection of the border patrol. Fortunately, if the governments of South America and Latin America could start lifting their populations out of poverty through social protection measures, there would be quality education and health care, and most of these cases would soon disappear.
