Economic Models, Development, and Their Effects on Immigration in Latin America

This work deals with the prevalent issue of Latino migration to the United States of America. The author will examine the relationship between the economic development models of Guatemala and Costa Rica and Latino immigration to the United States of America from these countries of origin. My research question will be as follows: by analyzing the past economic models and development of Guatemala and Costa Rica, what immigration or economic policies should the United States implement to assist these countries? The goal of answering this question is to propose a policy that will make immigration safer, more effective, and more efficient for immigrants and border enforcement. This topic is extremely important and relevant to the present time and to North and Latin American societies because Latino/as pay large sums of money to get to the border, some cross without authorization, many are trafficking or smuggled, and many immigrants die trying to get to the United States to work and survive. In order to help save lives, reduce human suffering, and reach a comprehensive immigration policy within our current system, Americans and our politicians must understand why these immigrants are immigrating to the United States in the first place, and if the United States brought some of its immigration “woes” upon itself. It is imperative to the United States to look for long-term solution that help these immigrants instead of simply putting a band-aid on the issue, which is what our current policies are accomplishing through President Trump’s Wall and other deterrence methods . This paper also explores the main immigration policy presently, the Border Wall, and assesses whether or not this could be sound policy. This work explores this topic by examining the roots of Guatemala and Costa Rica’s present day economies and how these contribute to their immigration to the United States. Moreover, the author will examine the positives and negatives of past immigration policies that the United States has implemented. By doing this, the author hopes to reach a conclusion concerning the best immigration or economic policies going forward in order to reach the goal of safe immigration to the United States and the economic success of Guatemala and Costa Rica.