The stars have aligned in 2024: around half of the global population is living in a country going through an election cycle, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Immigration and migration policy have been key issues throughout several campaigns across the globe. In this article, Mount Holyoke News will explore how individual countries and their leaders are navigating the topic of immigration politically during their election cycles.
The United States, Panama and Colombia have issued a new plan to end migration through the Darién Gap, a jungle passage between Colombia and Panama. According to Al Jazeera, this 60-day campaign was created to “end the illicit movement of people and goods through the Darién by both land and maritime corridors,” and will implement “new lawful and flexible pathways for tens of thousands of migrants and refugees,” per a U.S. Department of Homeland Security statement. The Associated Press described the third part of this new plan as an investment to lessen poverty and build more jobs in the communities that are on the border of Colombia and Panama to discourage trade from smuggling migrants.
BY MAYA HOFFMAN ’20
On Jan. 30, Donald Trump delivered the State of the Union in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives. The speech was long, lasting approximately an hour and 20 minutes. Pauses were filled with loud standing ovations from one half of the room, while the other half remained seated. Despite the theatrics of the ceremonial event, Trump had a somber task at hand; as the second year of his term began, the president attempted to establish the State of the Union, the goals of American foreign policy and the fate of immigration under his administration.
