Introduction:
Crossroads of the Western Hemisphere
Figure 1 “The Northern Triangle”
Mexico
The movement of people
and money between Central and
North America dates back at least to the 12th century when maritime Mayan traders transferred obsidian,
cotton, and slaves along the Gulf Coast of Mexico.1 During the 16th century, the Spanish Conquest transformed
the isthmus into a key link in a colonial empire stretching
from Argentina to California. In the early 20th century, the
Panama Canal made Central America the primary shipping link between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Today
Central America remains a corridor for the movement of
people and goods—both legal and illegal. For nations like
Panama, this geography contributes to a booming economy
and improving socioeconomic indicators. Five percent of
all global trade transits the canal, and Panama has one of
the fastest growing economies in the world. In 2008, for
example, in the midst of a global recession, the Panamanian economy grew by almost 11 percent.2 Between 2006
and 2010, Panama reduced its poverty rate by 10 percentage points.3
But in the “Northern Triangle”4 nations of Guatemala,
Honduras, and El Salvador, geography has been a mixed
blessing and made them the target of centuries of foreign
intervention (see Figure 1). Unlike Panama and Costa Rica,
economic progress in the Northern Triangle has been uneven and poverty rates remain high. To escape poverty,
millions of Central Americans have taken advantage of its
proximity to the world’s largest economy to seek opportunity. These migrations have helped Central Americans
feed, clothe, and educate their families. But it’s also created
a dependency on the diaspora.
Belize
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
El Salvador
authorization. According
Costa Rica
to the Pew Hispanic Center,
there were 2.4 million Northern Triangle immigrants in
Panama
the United States in 2009, comprising about 6 percent of the total U.S. foreign-born population of 38 million.5 Other
estimates place the number of Northern Triangle
immigrants at more than 3 million6 (see Table 1).
Immigrants from this region are more likely than the average U.S. immigrant to be unauthorized. Thus, they are
overrepresented among unauthorized immigrants, comprising 15 percent of the total in 2011 (see Table 2).7 Despite
the Northern Triangle’s relatively small population (27 million), there are more unauthorized immigrants from this
region than from China and India combined, which have
a combined population of more than 2.5 billion.8 Starting
around 2006, migration from the Northern Triangle began
Table 1 Northern Triangle Immigrants in the U.S., 20091
Total number of
immigrants
in the U.S.
Expatriates as a
percentage of native
population
The Source of Unauthorized Central American Migration
El Salvador
1,150,000
19%
Unlike people in Africa or South Asia, Central Americans who are unable to meet their material wan