Factors Driving Migration from Central America to US & Canada Discussion Discuss why quality of life issues fuel migration. This can included leaving pover | Course Hero

Factors Driving Migration from Central America to US & Canada Discussion Discuss why quality of life issues fuel migration. This can included leaving poverty and violence. Why would families and individuals risk the long and dangerous journey from Central America to the United States. Why don’t people seek asylum in Mexico? Do people from other countries seek asylum in Canada?

*All posts must be at least 6 full paragraphs in length and include direct citations

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There are many reasons why people will migrate from one place to another. People will migrate from every country, there is not just one country that people migrate from. There is voluntary migration and forced migration, like push and pull factors. The push factors are those that force one out of their country due to circumstances such as violence, poverty, hunger, and natural disasters. Pull factors are those that attract the person to come migrate, factors such as academic and employment opportunities, and family members they want to come see and spend time with them. In this essay we will have a focus more on the push factors of migration.

Many families and individuals risk the long and dangerous journey from Central America to the United States because of poor living conditions in their country. One of the many reasons people migrate is due to poverty. People can’t afford to buy food everyday, have shelter every night and don’t have enough money to buy themselves and their children clothes. Many people don’t have enough to pay for medication or doctors visits. They also cannot afford to pay for their children’s education. Limited resources can cause physical and psychological problems to their health such as malnutrition/starvation and can become depressed and stressed and can cause anxiety because of the lack of resources. This fuels the idea of individuals to migrate to other places to be able to live better. They know that in the U.S. people under the poverty line can get help financially. They can get free medicare, free education and many other resources. Although they still might be living in poverty in the U.S. they know that they will have more resources than they would have in their home country. My cousin, he took the risk of coming to the United States due to poverty. His journey was long, terrifying and traumatic. One his way to cross the border between Mexico and Texas, he was kidnapped and later killed. He knew these things could happen to him but he still took the risk because he wanted to have a better life and provide for his parents back home. He wanted to come work here and make money even if it wasn’t that much. He knew that the money he would make here was more than what he would make in Guatemala. He would work hard, yes, but the hard work would pay off like it has for many that have migrated to the U.S. I can testify that by looking at my parents situation. They came here seeking a better life because they lived eating tortillas with a little bit of salt for dinner and working hard 12 hours in the field a day under the blazing sun and not making enough for more than a tortilla with salt. Today, they have 2 daughters, one who is a college graduate working in the medical field and the other about to be a college graduate. Their tough journey to the U.S. for a better life has paid off.

Another reason families and individuals take the risk to come to the United States is because of violence that is occurring in their home country. An example I can use is in my dad’s hometown in Guatemala there is a strong presence of gangs. Many people there have been killed, raped, robbed, and extorted. Many of his friends have left from that community in fear that their children may become victimized or involve themselves in gangs. “Poverty, single parent families, and youth increase the risk of gang membership” (Valdez, 2020). Youth have nothing else to do, as stated above, many parents don’t have enough money to pay for their child’s education in their home country this causes them to seek for other things to do.They also lack the attention of their parents. Doing drugs and joining gangs are the activities they look to do. This causes for there to be a bigger population of gangs in the community and the use and sale of drugs as well. “Drugs and alcohol affect thinking, emotions, and behaviors” (Valdez, 2020). Drugs make you do things you wouldn’t do normally. Drugs can make you see things that aren’t really there causing you to do harm to others. Many parents want to avoid this happening to their children, they want them away from these negative influences causing them to migrate to other places. Drugs such as PCP can distort the persons sight, sound and their reality causing them to not see the damage they are doing such as killing or raping someone. As stated above, rape can be considered violence as well, which causes people to migrate. “Some gang member also can commit sex crimes as part of their gang criminal life” (Valdez, 2011, p. 111). As the community’s gang population grows the more violence there is. Sex crimes are done by not only gang members but non-gang members too. These same violence are the reason people leave, seeking for better protection from authority and seeking a better life.

In addition, natural disasters are a push factor that causes people to migrate as well. In 2017, Hurricane Maria had a major impact on Puerto Rico, causing many to migrate to the United States. People had varying degrees of damage to their homes, and property. These circumstances took a toll on everyone’s life, from smallest to oldest. With many homes and properties being destroyed families didn’t have enough resources for them and their children. They didn’t have roofs over their head, clothes on their back or food on their tables. Not only did they not have those things but they also were not getting an education. A friend of mine living in Puerto Rico states, “my school wasn’t even teaching the students anymore because the structure was no longer there and the teachers had their own things to deal with” (DJ. 2020). People had to seek refuge in the U.S. for the sake of their families. The lives of many people are affected by natural disasters, this may also cause individuals to start fighting one another for the limited supplies available. This can also be another factor that can cost someone their life. For instance, we can see that during Covid-19, the first few weeks people were fighting over toilet paper. There were physical assaults on one another over the limited supplies that were available. Limited supplies are also one of the subfactors of natural disasters that cause families to migrate.

One of the pull factors that cause people to migrate is academic opportunities. My parents have always told me that they came to this country to give me and my sister a better life, such as a better education and better opportunities. My dad has an education up until 2nd grade while my mom went to school only up to 6th grade. “The more education you have the more opportunities you have” (Valdez, 2020). Today, my dad is a self-employed mechanic, I’m not saying this is a bad profession but if he had gone to school longer and studied to be a mechanic then it wouldn’t have been so hard for him to become a mechanic. He self-taught, buying and reading books, making mistakes on cars, doing more work than he should have if he had known how to do it in a more efficient way. He also would have more opportunities to get more money if he was working at a shop, but to work in most shops you need an equivalent to a highschool diploma. People from Central America looking for a better education to have a better life, do anything to get it. They risk the long painful and dangerous journey to get to the United States. First, most K-12 schools in the U.S. are public, meaning they are free to everyone. Second, in the U.S. there is more quality education than most schools in Central America. In my hometown of Guatemala, I know that teachers can cancel class the day of and not put a substitute teacher. They can cancel classes because it’s either raining and teachers don’t want to go out, because it is the teachers birthday or simply because the teacher doesn’t want to teach that day. Also, parents have to pay for their child’s education in a public school. Knowing that they will have a better education leading them to have a better life here than they did in their home country helps them make that dangerous journey. Many people that go through the desert and get through those terrifying times always know that they can survive whatever else is thrown at them.

Many individuals and families don’t seek asylum in Mexico because it can be just as dangerous as the countries they are leaving from. Mexico can also have other push factors as their own countries did. In my church, I have been able to hear testimonies from brothers and sisters from my church stating their destination was Mexico but when they got there, Mexicans found out they were immigrants and that made them vulnerable. Vulnerable to different types of crime such as robbery, extortion, toture and abuse. “Immigrants often are afraid to make contact with police for fear of deportation” (Valdez, 2011, p. 86). As professor Valdez stated, people take advantage that immigrants won’t go to the police and do all these crimes against them. They also stated that there were many more drug cartels in Mexico than there was in their own countries. “Disrespecting gang members can be in the form of a derogatory stare or glaring, this is called mad dogging” (Valdez, 2011, p. 86). Mad dogging can also be used for Cartels as well. If a person is caught “mad dogging” a member of the cartel there could be severe consequences for the person. “Peer gang members will take care of it, they will back you up” (Valdez, 2011, p. 89). They can be jumped, killed, and kidnapped by members of the cartel for doing something against their peers. This is one of the reasons people will not seek asylum in Mexico, because of the same situation that is going on in their home country and is going on in Mexico as well.

People from other countries seek asylum in Canada even individuals from the U.S. People can seek asylum in Canada for many reasons, such as people receiving micro aggressions, or being persecuted by their home country, and poverty. One friend from El Salvador told me she will be seeking asylum in Canada due to the issue of immigration here in the U.S. at the moment. Many people fear deportation due to a change in their immigration status even though they have been in the U.S. for many years, making them migrate and seek asylum in Canada. Many people from the U.S. also sought asylum during the Vietnam war, to avoid being drafted into military service or after deserting the war.