Social Media Update 2

Title of Publication: Biden Names Harris to Work With Central American on Migration

Article/Post/Publication Link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/24/us/politics/biden-harris-migration.html

Media Outlet: Twitter

Summary: In the article published yesterday, it states that Vice President Harris has been put in

charge of managing immigration from Central American Countries. The primary goal is to fund

the governments of the countries Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador with millions of dollars

in an attempt to reduce violence and stabilize their economies to prevent so much migration into

the United States. A critique the article makes of this proposal is it is neglecting to deal with the

thousands of young people currently being detained at the border. It is also noted that this kind of

approach will not produce the rapid results that are wanted bipartisanly, and that may cause

dissatisfaction. The article also notes republican party dissatisfaction with Biden’s plan and

theorizes that they will use this issue as a way to gain popularity in congress next year. Biden has

also made the choice to continue to detain people, rather than to expel them, in the hopes that

they will soon be able to be released to sponsors in the country. Currently 4,800 people are being

detained, as well as 3,300 of those people being held more than the maximum 72 hours. This

news is critical after many unsuccessful attempts to effectively regulate immigration over the

years under multiple administrations.

Why I Chose This: I found this article on twitter because I follow the New York Times and saw

that they recently released an article specifically pertaining to immigration. Having been released

yesterday, it contains some of the most recent information on immigration policies in the Biden

Administration. I do not understand all the complex workings of the government, but to me the
idea of funding these countries to help improve their economy seems to be an effective way to

stop immigration at the source by improving the countries they already live in, to prevent them

seeking asylum in the United States. I do not believe that immigration is the issue at all and I do

believe we should be more lax, but I would agree that our current immigration policies are not

only ineffective but harmful. No proposal will offer rapid solutions as this is not a problem that

can be easily remedied. I think this will cause a lot of frustration as people will believe we are

not doing enough, and it will be hard to see the overall impact of these decisions for many years.

That being said, I think that while this plan may be effective in the long term, it needs to be

paired with actions at the border currently, where thousands of people are being detained in

unsuitable conditions.

Connections to Course Content: This ties in specifically with us discussing Central American

Migration as a current topic in class on Tuesday. One of the things I find the most interesting is

that we focus so much of our immigration discussion on those coming from Central America and

not those coming from Europe and Canada and I can’t help but wonder if maybe it's more a race

issue than an immigration issue whether we realize it or not. We also understand that immigrants

contribute through work and economic participation, and when we look at immigration from a

political perspective it seems as though these realities are often disregarded.

Media Consumption Reflection: I’m actually really glad I chose this article. I think the New

York Times made this information easy to understand and comprehend and I learned more about

what's going on in the current administration that I would have without going out of my way to

learn about them. It was also an unbiased source to seek information from, and the article was

able to state what happened as well as the opinions on both sides which I think was very

beneficial in my interpretation of it.