https://sputnikglobe.com/20231229/no-immediate-solution-us-border-crisis-rooted-in-decades-of-bad-policy-1115866550.html
‘No Immediate Solution’: US' Border Crisis Rooted in Decades of ‘Bad Policy’
‘No Immediate Solution’: US' Border Crisis Rooted in Decades of ‘Bad Policy’
Sputnik International
The root cause of the crisis unfolding at the US-Mexico border is none other than decades’ worth of faulty foreign policy enacted by the American government, investigative journalist Daniel Lazare told Sputnik.
2023-12-29T00:22+0000
2023-12-29T00:22+0000
2023-12-29T00:18+0000
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The root cause of the crisis unfolding at the US-Mexico border is none other than decades’ worth of faulty foreign policy enacted by the American government, investigative journalist Daniel Lazare told Sputnik.Lazare, who is also the author of “America’s Undeclared War,” joined Sputnik’s Political Misfits program on Thursday for a broad discussion that touched on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent trip to Mexico and the growing US-Mexico border crisis.Host John Kiriakou noted that Blinken’s meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador apparently came at the behest of US President Joe Biden, who’s searching for a response to a recent surge in migration at America’s southern border. The White House claimed the meeting was “productive,” while López Obrador cited agreement on unspecified “important” deals.Still, Lazare claimed a quick fix for undocumented migration to the US is unlikely, claiming “US policies have been disastrous” for decades.“First and foremost, that means the war on drugs,” said Lazare. “I mean, just imagine Chicago in the 1920s when you had Al Capone and the Saint Valentine's Day massacre and really crime going wild. And multiply it by, say – I don't know, 1,000, 10,000 – and spread it across vast parts of the world… And you have a mega Al Capone explosion.”“Countries like Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and portions of Brazil, for example, are really just riddled with crime on a scale that we can't imagine,” the journalist said. Lazare claimed that America’s strict drug prohibition combined with heavy-handed enforcement creates an environment for violence to thrive in other countries.“It's like if you are drinking quart after quart of Jack Daniels and you blame the corner liquor store for your problem. I mean, something's wrong here, right?”Kiriakou agreed, citing “a hundred years of bad policy leading us to this point,” including US-backed coups that destabilized countries in Central America and South America. During the Cold War, the United States backed a broad campaign of violence and state terror known as Operation Condor that installed dictatorial governments throughout Latin America. Tens of thousands were killed as the United States looked to stamp out left-wing influence after the Cuban revolution.The region has returned to liberal democracy in recent decades, but in many countries a legacy of poverty, violence, and guerilla conflict remains. Economic instability prompts migration to the United States or involvement in the lucrative drug trade, which itself fuels violence that often drives migration.The imposition of neoliberal policy by the United States and US-aligned institutions exacerbates economic inequality in the region, with migration from Mexico rising sharply in the years since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).“This is not something that can be solved overnight just because Joe Biden realized he has an election coming up and he started to panic in the days before Christmas,” said Kiriakou, who also noted the failure of immigration reform in the US in recent years. Kiriakou recalled a guest worker program negotiated in the early days of the George W. Bush administration that was shelved after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.“Neither Democratic nor Republican White Houses have even considered trying to revive this idea that was so close to passing,” said Kiriakou.“They just can't keep these nonsensical policies in effect year after year. You can't keep kicking the can down the road until at some point something really bad happens," the journalist underscored.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230927/new-york-city-faces-mammoth-1b-costs-on-housing-migrants-amid-biden-border-crisis-1113738525.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230920/bidens-migrant-border-crisis-blows-hole-worth-millions-in-colorado-city-budget-1113529760.html
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who is daniel lazare, what is causing the us-mexico border crisis, illegal immigration, spike in us immigration, us foreign policy
who is daniel lazare, what is causing the us-mexico border crisis, illegal immigration, spike in us immigration, us foreign policy
‘No Immediate Solution’: US' Border Crisis Rooted in Decades of ‘Bad Policy’
John Kiriakou and journalist Daniel Lazare discuss the consequences of decades of US policy in Latin America that drives today’s drug and migration crises.
The root cause of the crisis unfolding at the US-Mexico border is none other than decades’ worth of faulty foreign policy enacted by the American government, investigative journalist Daniel Lazare told Sputnik.
Lazare, who is also the author of “America’s Undeclared War,” joined
Sputnik’s Political Misfits program on Thursday for a broad discussion that touched on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent trip to Mexico and the growing US-Mexico border crisis.
Host John Kiriakou noted that Blinken’s meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador apparently came at the behest of US President Joe Biden, who’s searching for a response to a recent surge in migration at America’s southern border. The White House
claimed the meeting was “productive,” while López Obrador cited agreement on unspecified “important” deals.
Still, Lazare claimed a quick fix for undocumented migration to the US is unlikely, claiming “US policies have been disastrous” for decades.
“First and foremost, that means the war on drugs,” said Lazare. “I mean, just imagine Chicago in the 1920s when you had Al Capone and the Saint Valentine's Day massacre and really crime going wild. And multiply it by, say – I don't know, 1,000, 10,000 – and spread it across vast parts of the world… And you have a mega Al Capone explosion.”
27 September 2023, 15:49 GMT
“Countries like Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and portions of Brazil, for example, are really just riddled with crime on a scale that we can't imagine,” the journalist said. Lazare claimed that America’s strict drug prohibition combined with heavy-handed enforcement creates an environment for violence to thrive in other countries.
“Whenever you have a black market, you have violence,” said Lazare. “So it's really US policies. And then the other statistic, which I think is amazing, is that the United States consumes an estimated 80% of the world's opiate market.”
“It's like if you are drinking quart after quart of Jack Daniels and you blame the corner liquor store for your problem. I mean, something's wrong here, right?”
Kiriakou agreed, citing “a hundred years of bad policy leading us to this point,” including US-backed coups that destabilized countries in Central America and South America. During the Cold War, the United States backed a broad campaign of violence and state terror known as
Operation Condor that installed dictatorial governments throughout Latin America. Tens of thousands were killed as the United States looked to stamp out left-wing influence after the Cuban revolution.
The region has returned to liberal democracy in recent decades, but in many countries a legacy of poverty, violence, and guerilla conflict remains. Economic instability prompts migration to the United States or involvement in the lucrative drug trade, which itself fuels violence that often drives migration.
20 September 2023, 14:37 GMT
The imposition of neoliberal policy by the United States and US-aligned institutions exacerbates economic inequality in the region, with migration from Mexico rising sharply in the years since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
“This is not something that can be solved overnight just because Joe Biden realized he has an election coming up and he started to panic in the days before Christmas,” said Kiriakou, who also noted the failure of immigration reform in the US in recent years. Kiriakou recalled a guest worker program negotiated in the early days of the George W. Bush administration that was shelved after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
“Neither Democratic nor Republican White Houses have even considered trying to revive this idea that was so close to passing,” said Kiriakou.
“Clearly, decade after decade of bad policy is finally catching up with the US,” concluded Lazare, “and there is no immediate solution. Things are falling apart in a really dramatic way, and there is just no way out of that that anyone can say.”
“They just can't keep these nonsensical policies in effect year after year. You can't keep kicking the can down the road until at some point something really bad happens," the journalist underscored.
