Migrant families and children sit in the back of a police truck after crossing the Rio Grande on March 5.
Adrees Latif / Reuters
Editor's Note:
Carlos Alberto Montaner is a writer, journalist, and CNN contributor.
His columns are published in dozens of newspapers in Spain, the United States and Latin America.
Montaner is also vice president of the Liberal International.
The opinions expressed here are solely his.
(CNN Spanish) -
President Joe Biden does very well to compassionately host thousands of children on the southern border of the United States.
I once heard President Jimmy Carter say that if the White House was not a place where compassion could be exercised, he was not interested in being there.
A percentage of Europeans also rejected the Syrian exodus, but 99.99% escaped probable death.
You cannot condemn an entire community to prevent murderers from entering our borders.
The police will already detect them, as they have done with two Yemenis who were on the US terrorist list.
Biden government reaches agreements with Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala to secure borders, says an official
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On the one hand, welcoming migrants is a clear tribute to American society.
With all its mistakes, it is the most inclusive.
It is true that a fluctuating percentage rejects immigrants, but it is the minority.
Almost all the children are Central American from the Northern Triangle: Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
His parents are desperate.
Infinite poverty, lack of opportunities and social violence are the main causes.
Especially the lack of opportunities.
Why don't they emigrate from Costa Rica and Panama in those amounts?
Exactly why: because they are hopeful.
Of course, there is notable poverty in Costa Rica and Panama, but they do not emigrate as much because they hope that they can improve and there are honest ways to do so.
In both countries there are public schools and a sufficient but precarious health system.
Sure they can improve both public education and the health system, but the poor are not totally helpless.
The parents of 445 migrant minors separated at the border in the Trump era have yet to be found, according to a court file.
It is important to understand, first, that parents feel deep pain when they hand over their children to “coyotes” to cross the US-Mexico border. Only absolutely desperate people make such a sacrifice.
How can Washington deal with this dire problem?
First, by stimulating the creation of thousands of jobs on the border through the maquilas.
And, second, promoting the creation of systems of schools and health centers, especially in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Of course, they are not the only problems that this region has.
Perhaps President Joe Biden can appeal to the fabulous American private charity for those purposes.
It is true that it is not a problem in the United States, but it is true that thousands of children arrive alone in the country.
They cannot turn their back on them and it cannot possibly be a permanent phenomenon.
The Northern Triangle must be Panamanized and Costa Rican.
It's good for them and it's good for America.
It is a matter of restoring hope to potential immigrants.
It is not easy, but it is a task that is within the reach of the US In Europe, after the Second World War, the Marshall Plan was created.
We must create a Marshall Plan for Central America.
Hope must be restored to them.
