Central Americans point to poverty and food scarcity as main reasons to migrate to U.S., report finds
CBSN
Central Americans surveyed this year said scarce economic opportunities were the main reason that they wanted to leave their homelands and head to another country, including the U.S., according to a report by the United Nations and other agencies released Tuesday.
Over 90% of the Central Americans who told researchers they wished to migrate cited unemployment, low wages, lack of money to buy food and necessities and other economic reasons, according to the report, which was compiled by the United Nations World Food Programme, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Migration Policy Institute.
Smaller percentages of households in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador who participated in the study said they hoped to migrate to escape violence, reunite with family members living abroad and leave areas affected by natural disasters. Many cited these factors in addition to economic reasons, researchers noted.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.