The letters to the editor on March 5 and previous articles addressing the plight of economic migrants crossing the United States-Mexico border overlooked the fact that hundreds of millions of people from Asia, Africa and Latin America are in need of jobs and a better standard of living. Migration for all is not possible and does not solve the root of the problem, which is a lack of economic opportunity in their home countries. The U.S. and other developed countries need to make much higher investments in the development of poorer countries’ economies. Short-term security considerations have been a consistent, but ineffective, driver of U.S. foreign assistance for decades. Real long-term security comes from economic development around the globe.
Local economic disparities are the root of immigration problems
Published March 12, 2014
