In much of its engagement with Mexico and Central America, the Trump administration has focused on stopping the flow of migrants from the region to the United States, whether by building a wall along of the US-Mexico border, insisting that Mexico stop the flow of American Migrants, or embrace leaders who are contributing to efforts to stem migration. Similarly, the Trump administration has identified Central American criminal gangs known as the maras as a primary threat to U.S. public safety. Beyond migrants, the administration’s relationship with Mexico has focused on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. (USMCA) updated and on addressing the flow of opioids from Mexico to the United States. Beyond the USMCA, levels of violence in Mexico and parts of Central America remain high. And the economic effects of COVID-19 have devastated the region, undermining already limited government capacity, at times empowering gangs and criminal groups, and leaving large segments of the population vulnerable to the pressures and influence of criminal or instigated groups. to migrate.
On October 5, the Brookings Foreign Policy Program hosted a roundtable to explore how the next administration should address these policy issues and what other issues, such as clean energy and economic recovery, should be on the agenda. day of relations with Mexico and Central America. America. The panel included Brookings nonresident senior scholar and former Mexican ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan, associate professor and chair of global studies at the new school Alexandra Délano Alonso, InSight Crime co-director Steven Dudley, and senior scholar by Brooking Vanda Felbab-Brown. Felbab-Brown also moderated the discussion. At the end of their remarks, the panelists took questions from the audience.
Viewers submitted questions via email to events@brookings.edu or via Twitter to #Politics2020.
Policy 2020 events aim to give voters factual, data-driven, and non-partisan information so they can better understand the policy issues being discussed in the 2020 election.
