The Border Crisis: Child Refugees Fleeing to the U.

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What is the border crisis? The border crisis represents the mass movement of poor refugees
across South America into Mexico and then illegally crossing the border into the United States. The
Obama administration has elected to spend 3.7 billion dollars addressing the issue. The solutions to
these problems include mass deportation, improved security measures, housing projects for children
etc. The majority of people appear to disapprove of the current administrations work on the border
crisis and there proposed solutions.
Why is there a border crisis? The United States and Canada represent a standard of living and
opportunity even at its very lowest levels, whether seasonal, minimum wage, under the table, which is
vastly superior to any opportunities available within a refugees home country. The Wall Street Journal
Reported in 2012 that the minimum wage in Mexico had risen by 4% to only $4.60 per day. An hourly
pay which could easily represent less than 50 cents per hour. By comparison a general laborer working
under the table could expect to earn $50-100.
Security and health care are to major factors which compel people to leave their home countries.
Violence within countries like Mexico, Guatemala and other South American countries. Mexico
compared to other South American countries is relatively safe, yet violence which had declined in the
mid-2000s, reaching its lowest levels in 2007, began to surge in 2008 and increased dramatically until
2013 when it saw a 15% drop although surging homicides rates of 40-50% per year give more
perspective to that number.