American exceptionalism?
The United States is not alone in seeing this spike in refugees. There is a 720% increase in asylum claims in both Nicaragua and Belize, as people flee violence in the Northern Triangle.
The UNHCR found that 58% of these youth coming to the United States qualify for specific international protection due to their legitimate claim of fear and violence.
(Crisis on the Border: Unaccompanied Migrant Children. Sisters of Mercy of the Americas)
Obabma could have saved himself a lot of trouble if instead of “at my direction, [having] the Vice President convene… leaders from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, as well as Mexico,” he’d first talked to the Sisters of Mercy, who like the U.S. goverment have been in the business of providing “assistance” in the region, although the nuns admittedly have much less background in sending military “advisers”, weapons and “biometric identification software” (the latter something the U.S. seems to think Mexico will install on their southern border… just because). The short (three page) document from the Sisters of Mercy is probably the best and simplest overview of the situation I’ve read.
