How Do U.S. Migration Policies Affect Migration Policies in Latin America?

Abstract: All countries deal with migration a little differently from one another, however, the way immigration is dealt with in some Latin American countries is based off of policies applied in the United States. The U.S. is a much stronger country than some of the Latin American countries they are relatively close to, and it therefore has the power to influence other countries to create policies that will help the U.S. achieve their goals. The U.S. has been largely anti-immigration in recent years and has consequently pressured Latin American Countries such as Mexico and Guatemala into doing more to stop migrants from reaching the Mexico- U.S. border. Many of these migrants are coming from countries in the Northern Triangle (Figure 1), which is a turbulent region of Central America comprised of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. High levels of violence in the area is a major push factor for citizens of these three countries.