A Reality Gap in US Politics, Daily Brief September 11, 2024

Lies about immigrants have again become a focal point of an election in the US – a country paradoxically founded on immigration. But to call the anti-immigrant nonsense blurted out by some politicians and commentators simply “ridiculous” or “absurd” would be to dismiss the very real dangers their ugly words produce.

The truth is, the anti-immigrant atmosphere in the US has been heating up for years now, and it’s led to poisonous policies by both Republican and Democrat administrations. The partisan political theater masks bipartisan cruelty.

The US approach has impacted not just people legally trying to cross the US border with Mexico but also many further along the trail of migration.

The situation in the Darién Gap, a roadless, swampy jungle at the Colombia-Panama border, is one especially horrific example.

Over the last year-and-a-half, almost 700,000 people have crossed the Darién Gap on their journey north, often hoping to ultimately reach the United States. During their journey across this difficult terrain, many have experienced serious abuses, including sexual violence. Dozens, if not hundreds, have lost their lives or gone missing in the Darién Gap. Many have never been found.

Why people take such risks says everything about where they’re coming from. Migrants and asylum seekers leave their countries of origin driven by violence, persecution, humanitarian disasters, and other reasons, in search of protection or economic opportunities abroad. Significant numbers of these people are fleeing crises in Venezuela and Haiti, which we’ve highlighted here before.

But the appalling situation in the Darién Gap is also the result of a range of failed policies across the Americas.

Movement restrictions like visa requirements by Mexico and Central American countries, often promoted by the United States, and limited pathways to regularize status and integrate in South America push many to cross the Darién Gap. As a new report docments, this exposes them to unchecked abuses and empowers organized crime.

What’s more, a recent US-Panama agreement under which the US will pay Panama to “remove foreign nationals who do not have a legal basis to remain in Panama” is likely to worsen access to asylum in the Americas. The US is essentially shirking its responsibilities by outsourcing its migration controls.

Dramatic political debates in the US never get into this level of detail, of course. They often tend to hover around attempts to scapegoat vulnerable people, especially those who can’t defend themselves by voting. Hateful, attention-seeking language can sound bizarre and absurd, almost as if it’s supposed to be entertainment.

But the environment it creates is deadly dangerous, when politics turns into policy.