Migrating Along the Pipeline: Political Instability and Migration in the Northern Triangle
Open Access
- Author:
- Lutz, Emma
- Area of Honors:
- Global and International Studies
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Andrew Vitek, Thesis Supervisor
Jonathan Eran Abel, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- political instability
gangs
weak institutions
corruption
Northern Triangle
El Salvador
Nicaragua
democratization
migration - Abstract:
- Over the past thirty years, immigration out of Central America has dramatically increased. The United States and Mexican borders are receiving burgeoning numbers of emigrants from the region, many of whom ask for political asylum from unstable governments and gang control. This thesis investigates the impact of political instability on trending migration out of the Northern Triangle of Central America. Through a comparative case study of El Salvador, a representative country of the Northern Triangle, and Nicaragua, a neighboring country with similar socioeconomic conditions, I analyze how political instability has impacted the flow of migration. I look at three primary indicators of instability: weak state institutions, political corruption, and gang involvement in politics. I find gang involvement in politics, specifically the gangs Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18, has the largest impact on migration. Instances of gangs interacting with the government and gaining authority coincide with large increases in migration. Generalized corruption is not found to cause distinct increases in migration. However, it contributes to the decision to migrate, as most people leave countries rampant with corruption to ones with better institutions. Presidential corruption scandals do increase migration, and examples were found of this relationship in both El Salvador and Nicaragua. Finally, weak state institutions contribute to overall political instability, but I did not find exhaustive evidence of weaking institutions leading to increases in migration.