I know there are many reasons for the flow of people to the border.
We had a customer come in last week that just returned from the region. He is a researcher, and one of his areas was to show how crops could get better yield. How certain types of corn would flourish in parts of their country.
What was interesting about our conversation was the corn. Many families decide that they only wish to grow the corn that their ancestors grew, and only plant as their ancestors did. They don't wish to grow other species of corn - let's say that is more drought resistant. Plant in ways that would give them more feed for the animals, and food for families. I'm just using one example to keep it simple.
Most are only interested in planting enough to get them through the year, and at that point they feel they are wealthy and happy. There are three main crops - corn, squash, and I forgot the third one. No one has anything, and they are used to that. They aren't unhappy or mad like many would be here in the USA. They tend to push away what we consider aspects of living properly.
It's a culture block in a way, and trying to get them to change a little so they don't starve in the bad years? It's not an easy nut to crack. That's not unusual if you look around the world.
They are finding the young want more from life, and drugs are a way to get some money to move forward. The draw to have more than their ancestors is what gets them into that ugly part of this.
Many in these towns find that the cartels - in one example - are good for the area overall. They will build the new church, or fund what ever need is there. They look at them as assets, and tend to look the other way when it comes to other aspects of their organization. El Chapo was very popular, because of what he brought to the communities and people within them. It's not unusual for the church to act the same as the citizens. Their churches are a much bigger part of their communities than they are here.
The researcher I spoke to reminded me of the many superstitions they embrace, and yet that also isn't all that unusual. He said once the drug trade came in, and grew leaps and bounds? Things changed drastically. You have those that get involved, and those that don't. Most get involved because they want more than their ancestors have - and want more than just the crops that they yield each year. They have to have loads of security, etc at times for their research - at the area they were invited to come and do the research. One country a couple of years ago that he was invited to? The local cartel didn't know him, and were scared he was undercover - and the company got him out there quickly.
It was a very interesting conversation that we had, and you don't really get the feel for the cultural reasons for this happening in the news. There is a lot more to the story that isn't being told. Although no doubt many are leaving for the reasons you hear on the news? Safety due to people wanting to harm them. Most are young and looking for a better way of supporting themselves - and their family - outside farming and the drug trade.
Most of what they are seeking our government helps to encourage. Industry for jobs. Tax base for the community center. Hospital for the sick. You really have no infrastructure there, and it's hard to get the educational experience our kids take for granted. I was reading recently how many of the countries down want to find ways to bring more industry to the region so the flow of people will start to dwindle. It's sad they were not interested in doing so before the crisis started. Yet no doubt just like our country - and many others - governments always seem to wait until a crisis point before they even start to the think about those things.