The State of the Region announced on Monday that US immigration policies will significantly impact the economy, demographics and labor markets of the Central American region.
They also detailed that “it is foreseeable” that before the restrictive measures for the entrance to the United States, the migratory flows increase towards Costa Rica and Panama.
The socioeconomic scenario is uncertain for a large part of these migrants, as well as for the economies that depend on the remittances they send,”
the entity explained.
It is estimated that Central American migrants went from one million in 1990 to 3 million in 2017. Data from the Pew Research Center indicate that during the administration of President Trump temporary protection status (TPS) was canceled for 195 thousand Salvadorans, 2,500 Nicaraguans. In addition, 57 thousand Hondurans could lose their benefits in the near future.
In the economic sphere, the negative effects could be very strong. For example, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua received more income from remittances than from direct foreign investment (FDI) in 2016. In the case of El Salvador, remittances were 11 times greater than FDI,”
quotes the State of the Region.
Given this, specialists believe that the flow of migration will be directed to Costa Rica, Panama and other Latin American countries.