Solving border crisis calls for U.S. engagement abroad

As one who had the honor of serving 35 years in the U.S. military, my experience has convinced me that America’s interests are inextricably linked to the prosperity and security of other nations and their people.

Today’s global crises frequently do not have a military solution, but require a comprehensive American engagement that strengthens the civilian tools of development and diplomacy that are essential in enabling countries around the world to address the challenges threatening their security and prosperity as well as ours.

That’s a lesson we need to bear in mind as we consider the recent crisis on our borders due to the arrival of undocumented, unaccompanied minors from Central America and Mexico at our southern border. It’s a thorny, complex issue that requires complex solutions. Whatever we do, we must be sensitive to the fact that the lives of tens of thousands of young and defenseless migrants are at stake and that extreme factors in their countries have driven them to take the perilous journey here.

To be sure, part of the solution ought to include ensuring adequate U.S. border enforcement, providing humanitarian assistance and enabling our immigration system to keep up with the flood of new claims. But necessary as these initiatives within our border might be, we would be treating the symptoms and not addressing the root causes. Our response must also include helping Central American countries and Mexico address the challenges within their countries that are driving their youth to our borders.

Central and Latin American leaders know this. Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández put it well when he said, “if you have a Central America with violence because of the drug traffic crime, a Central America without opportunities, without growth in the economy, it is going to always be a problem for the United States.”

One of my last military assignments was as commander of U.S. Air Forces Southern, which oversees civil and military engagements in Central and Southern America and the Caribbean. I have seen firsthand that if we ignore President Hernández’s important warning, we may see the crisis get worse before it gets better.

That’s where U.S. development and diplomacy programs can help. They can strengthen the capacity of Mexico and countries in Central America to counter the underlying causes driving this migration — especially those most affecting children and young adults — by focusing on economic development, crime fighting, youth, civil society and governance in the countries the migrants are fleeing.

Unfortunately, America’s development and diplomacy programs, at little more than 1 percent of our federal budget, have sustained significant cuts in recent years — 14 percent below what we were spending four years ago — and Central American countries and Mexico have only intermittently been an assistance priority for the United States. In 2013, these countries received only 1.3 percent of all American foreign assistance. Further cuts to these programs will cost the U.S. more in the long run through more costly military involvement and humanitarian crises.

The assistance that we do provide suggests that it can help countries in this region overcome their social, economic and security challenges. In El Salvador, with the help of USAID trade and investment policy reform programs, foreign direct investment grew more than sevenfold between 2000 and 2010. In Guatemala, poverty levels fell by 5 percent between 2006 and 2012, and chronic malnutrition dropped by 6 percent during the same period. In Honduras, U.S. assistance has helped cut the illiteracy rate from 50 percent to 16 percent, and increased the number of people with access to clean water from less than 30 percent to 87 percent.

The U.S. has the opportunity now to preserve and build on those impressive gains. That’s why support for Central America and Mexico is an investment in their stability and security and in ours. It's the smart and the right thing to do to build a better, safer, more prosperous America and world.

Lt. Gen. Norman R. Seip (Ret.) was commander of the 12th Air Force (2006-2009). He will be featured today in a public forum on U.S. diplomacy and development programs in Chattanooga, sponsored by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.