Mexico Border Shutdown Won’t Do What Trump Thinks

President Donald Trump has renewed his threats to close the U.S.-Mexico border. He has also cut off U.S. State Department assistance to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, the three Central American countries that have sent rising numbers of migrants to the U.S. in recent years. But even if Trump is right that admitting more Central Americans is bad, ending aid to these countries is counterproductive. And closing the border would hurt the U.S. economy.

It’s true that apprehensions at U.S.-Mexico border, although still way down from their historic highs two decades ago, have risen during the past year, with an especially large surge in February. Whereas 15 years ago most of the people apprehended were Mexicans trying to cross the border illegally in order to work in the U.S., many now are Central American families and children turning themselves in to the Border Patrol and requesting asylum. The result has been a humanitarian crisis on the border, with asylum seekers overwhelming the Border Patrol’s holding facilities and being kept in poor conditions.