When I heard President Biden talking about finding out the root causes of migration I felt hopeful. However, after hearing that the first measure the US is taking: sending U.S. military to the borders (Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico) to “contain” migrants, I quickly became disappointed.

There are many root causes for people to migrate. People are fleeing violence, poverty and US Foreign policy plays a huge part in this. US foreign policy towards Latin America has supported military governments which tortured and killed “leftists” dissidents since the 70s. U.S. even trained Latin American military in counter terrorism tactics and supported them financially. Thousands of people were killed, towns were decimated. Therefore, the US first has to acknowledge this and apologize to the people of those countries. Then, it has to repair the damage, which is not easy because the democracies of those countries are weak and politicians corrupt.

Also, U.S. has to treat migrants as refugees, understanding that the only way that families stop coming to the US is that there are good conditions in their countries to stay. No one wants to leave everything behind and do one of the most dangerous trips with their children knowing that they can even lose their lives in the attempt. No one. We are replacing metal border walls with “military” walls but now we will be going to their own countries to trap people inside. Not the right move.