A Push Towards Security: Drivers of Migration from Guatemala and El Salvador and Implications for U.S. Policy

Abstract

The migration of Central Americans to the U.S.-Mexico border has become a prominent political issue for U.S. policymakers. Since large influxes of asylum seekers from the region, and especially from the northern Central America region of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, started arriving in 2014, securitization and militarization along the U.S.-Mexico border has increased in an attempt to deter migrants from trying to enter the United States. Despite these policies, thousands of Central Americans continue to arrive at the United States every year to claim asylum. In this thesis, I analyze the drivers of migration from Guatemala and El Salvador. I find that two main push factors, economic insecurity, and its exacerbations by climate change, as well as physical insecurity are predominantly responsible for the migration of Guatemalans and Salvadorans. I explain how these drivers diminish the viability of livelihoods in Guatemala and El Salvador, especially for the large proportion of agriculture-reliant families. In order to reduce the surges of migration coming to the U.S. southern border, these root causes of migration must be addressed. I conducted a literary and documentary content analysis of materials from academics whose research focuses on Central America; international organizations researching overall trends of migration, economic insecurity, climate change, and physical insecurity; data on climate change and migration patterns; and surveys focusing on livelihoods and migration in Guatemala and El Salvador. Additionally, I interviewed thirteen experts including journalists, academics, and authors researching the relation between climate change and migration; international organizations who work on climate change adaptation efforts in Central America; and nongovernmental organizations who assist migrants and pursue climate adaptation programs. The combination of these academic materials and lived experiences allowed me to gain a more holistic view of the situations Guatemalans and Salvadorans face. After exploring what factors drive migration and how these factors have created untenable living conditions, I consider how the United States’ role in Central America has affected economic and physical insecurity in Guatemala and El Salvador. I explore how U.S. interventions in Guatemala and El Salvador from the 1950s to the present day have contributed to these insecurities. Through its support of the Guatemalan and Salvadoran governments during their civil wars, the United States undergirded economic inequalities and state-sponsored violence because of Cold War, anti-Communist rhetoric. Furthermore, the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions have increased the severity of climate change, which has intensified economic insecurities in Guatemala and El Salvador. Finally, the United States’ implementation of the War on Drugs and deportations of gang members to Central America has expanded and professionalized violent criminal networks that perpetrate physical insecurity. Ultimately, this thesis suggests that because of the United States’ role in intensifying these drivers of migration, the United States has a normative imperative to implement policies that address the insecurities and counter the adverse impacts of U.S. interventions. I present four feasible policy recommendations that are critical to enact in order to address the root causes of the migration and develop societies from which Guatemalans and Salvadorans are not forced to migrate in the first place.