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Migrant Labor Made America Great — History Behind the US-Mexico Border Crisis
This appeared in The Millennial Source
The suffering of children at US Border Patrol detention facilities has understandably drawn intense media attention worldwide. Yet the plight of detained adults is equally troubling, and reveals much about the root causes of the humanitarian crisis at the US-Mexico border.
Recently, US Vice President Mike Pence visited detention facilities in the border town of McAllen, Texas. He encountered men crowded into cages, who motioned that they do not receive adequate food and demonstrated the cramped conditions under which they are expected to sleep:
During the two and a half years of the Trump presidency, problems at the US southern border have escalated to a point where almost everyone agrees that an emergency exists. However, the underlying issues are not new. Debates over how to best reform immigration policies have raged on in the US for decades.
One way to investigate why those debates have produced so little meaningful action is to abide by an old guideline of American journalism: When in doubt, follow the money.
