The Situation At The US-Mexico Border Is A Crisis - But Is It New?

[Judi Lynn]

By Randi Mandelbaum
04/05/21 AT 1:40 AM

The media create the impression that there is an unprecedented crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, with droves of children arriving alone, as well as families flooding to the border.

There is a crisis.

But as a law professor who studies child migration, I can tell you that it’s nothing new.

Children and families have been fleeing to the U.S. for years, particularly from Mexico and the so-called Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Yet aspects of the current situation are different from the past. And whether more individuals are attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border “than have been in the last 20 years,” as Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas predicted, remains to be seen.

. . .

The numbers of children like these and families have been steadily increasing in recent years. Examining those numbers puts the current circumstances at the U.S.-Mexico border into context.

More:
https://www.ibtimes.com/situation-us-mexico-border-crisis-it-new-3174744