Immigration 201: History

Throughout the last few centuries, as we know, the United States has played a pivotal, defining role in countries around the globe. We have invaded nations, shifted policy, and influenced leaders. The details are intricate and complex: coming from a range of motives, resulting in a array of impacts. Something I’ve learned? With 55% of asylum seekers coming from the Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala), the US has deeply, irreversibly, and intentionally affected the countries from which asylum seekers now flee. We hold and share responsibility for the state of the countries today, and this is important to note as we consider our collective and individual responses to immigration. Here are just three examples of the US/Central American interdependencies:

1924: U.S. Marines are planted in Honduras to assist with establishing a militaristic government. 

1926: U.S. pretends to create a National Guard to defeat internal problems in El Salvador. 

1954: The CIA organizes a coup to overthrow the democratically elected president in Guatemala. This establishes US-backed militaristic government rule leading to a civil war that lasted for over 30 years with a death toll of around 150,000 people. 

Read the above again, slowly. 

If you, like me, have felt unaware of the US’ involvement in Central America, the weight of the impact of these events may feel heavy: the previous brief sentences containing thousands of lives and histories. How do we carry responsibility or comprehend what is held in the words above?  

If you, like me, want more than anything to absolve responsibility - I’m asking myself this: could I be willing to sit with tough emotions long enough to listen and learn? I cannot change the past, but I can certainly learn, and let what I hear make its way to my heart, affect my decisions and responses now. 

Historical information from the El Paso Museum of Art at its exhibit on immigration.