The figures are staggering: more than 180,000 migrants, including 10,765 unaccompanied children, mainly from the North Triangle region of Central America – Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador – entered through the southern border of the United States in may. More than 112,000 people have been evicted under public health legislation aimed at preventing the spread of communicable diseases.

Projections are that in this fiscal year, ending September 30, the number will rise to over 1.5 million. President Joe Biden’s diplomatic efforts to halt this surge have yet to bear fruit. Vice President Kamala Harris has visited Guatemala and Mexico to address the root causes of the problem. His message to Guatemala, “Don’t come, don’t come”, will surely go unheeded. What can and should be done?

Why migrants leave their homes and embark on a dangerous journey to the United States is no mystery. These are the poorest countries in Latin America. Widespread poverty, extreme inequalities, poor governance and dysfunctional government institutions, high levels of gang violence, drug trafficking, persistent corruption and the wide reach of transnational criminal organizations are compounded by natural disasters – COVID- 19, severe drought and recent hurricanes. Food insecurity, malnutrition and low levels of education combine to result in skills shortages for many. The World Food Program reports that around 8 million people in the Northern Triangle and Nicaragua face hunger and nearly 15% of those surveyed in January 2021 planned to migrate.

The root causes will only be addressed if the economic situation improves. Otherwise, an unemployed father unable to feed his family and a mother whose son has been threatened by gangs will always feel compelled to leave.

The administration announced a $ 4 billion aid package for the region. There are also plans to attract more foreign investment to the region, as Harris announced a partnership with 12 private sector companies and organizations to support “inclusive economic development.” These include MasterCard, which supports one million small businesses, and Microsoft will expand broadband access to nearly three million people next year. This is indeed a promising development, as these countries are hungry for foreign investment, which amounted to a paltry $ 2.2 billion combined for the three countries last year.

Improving education and skills training are essential for a workforce that companies can hire in a remunerative manner, and this will take time.

An equally serious challenge for the Biden administration concerns conditions at the southern border. A BBC investigation found that in a US border detention center – a tent camp at the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas, which temporarily houses more than 2,000 teenagers – “the disease is rampant, food can be dangerous and there is sexual abuse.

Every immigration lawyer I have spoken to has said that the condition at the border, especially for children, is unacceptable and must be addressed without delay. A lack of communication and coordination between U.S. government agencies, primarily Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, is a significant part of the problem. Harris should travel to the southern border on Friday, accompanied by DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Historically, Mexico has accepted migrants and is doing so now too. I asked my friend, Jim Polsfut, an entrepreneur from Denver and former CEO of the US-Mexico Foundation and now CEO of North American Specialty Hospital in Mexico, his thoughts. He said, “Undocumented immigration is not just an American problem, but rather a problem shared by the United States and Mexico.

He therefore suggested that the two countries work together to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants who arrive in Mexico and seek permanent asylum there, as well as to advance opportunities in Mexico and the Northern Triangle.

Partnering with corrupt governments in the region will not address the root causes. Working with American companies and through the United States Agency for International Development and the Department of State, as well as civil society organizations in those countries, will be the key to success.

– Ved Nanda is University Professor Emeritus and Director of the Ved Nanda Center for International Law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. His column appears on the last Sunday of each month and he accepts comments at [email protected]