The standard narrative from the right insists that the refugees are just greedy Mexicans trying to steal our jobs. The truth goes back to the original creation of powerful drug gangs with the help of Ronald Reagan and the Iran-Contra masterminds. Almost every refugee today is fleeing on-going gang violence in Central America and Mexico that originated in the 1980’s.
In 1984 when the socialist Sandinistas were elected in Nicaragua the CIA went into high gear supporting the anti-socialist Contra army. Democratic socialism was a serious threat to the corporate profits of the big American fruit companies in Nicaragua and Guatemala. Congress and the American people were not interested in funding another war post-Vietnam so Reagan determined that he could overlook shipments of drugs from Central America and divert the profits back to the Contra army.
The drug gangs also were supporting the Contras at the time since the Sandinistas had no tolerance for drug dealers. DEA agents in the US reported that most of the top level drug deals they investigated were sourced to CIA connected dealers and informants in the US. Soon the connections became obvious to the media and the public began asking questions.
The US was heavily involved in the area when the Panama canal was built and began propping up dictators like Somoza to control the entire region. The Somoza family consolidated power when the US confiscated Nicaraguan land from ex-patriate Germans during WWII and gave it to Somoza at very low prices. This hated regime was overthrown by the Sandinistas who later elected Daniel Ortega in 1984 as the legitimate President.
Reagan declared that Ortega would not be allowed to continue as President once the Sandinistas began distributing land back to the people. Ortega also helped eliminate polio, built more schools and gave women more rights. He had his own problems with mistreating Indians but he accomplished a great deal in a short period of time.
When the costs of war became too great Reagan’s Cabinet began selling advanced weapons to Iran and using the proceeds to fund the brutal Contra paramilitary army. The operation was run by the infamous Oliver North who is now a right-wing hero for defying Congress and lying under oath about the diversion of arms to Iran.
The end result was a de-stabilized Central America with the drug lords now becoming the de-facto rulers. The refugees today are fleeing unbelievable violence created by the power vacuum left behind after the elimination of democracy by the Reagan Republicans.
So once again, we can thank the Gipper for our current state of affairs.