The largest cohort now illegally entering the US are people fleeing Venezuela. The state, a thriving economy in the 1990s , went through a catastrophic cliff dive starting in 2014 when its Marxist thug leader came to power. How bad?
Like it’s GDP dropped 75% in three years. That’s the 2nd worst drop in recent global history!
One reason for that is that Maduro nationalized the oil sector (their chief income producer), threw foreign oil companies out, and watched their oil production get slammed. It’s never recovered.
During the fun, the nation experienced hyperinflation. After reaching a peak of more than 200 percent (per month!) in January 2019, monthly inflation declined to below 50 percent since in February 2021. For those of you who didn’t take “economics” in college, that means their money turned into toilet paper.
So Venezuelans started fleeing the country looking for a better life elsewhere, most of them going to Columbia and Peru. The number of people fleeing the country is also the largest in recent history.
Source: International Monetary Fund.
The new reality: Venezuela’s South American neighbors are no longer so hospitable to new immigrants. Ergo, they’re saying “Thanks we full”. The United States is looking like a great option.
One reason the US is having a hard time absorbing the onslaught of illegals is their level of education and training. Few have a college education and about 60% haven’t completed Venezaualan’s version of High School (which as you might guess isn’t terrific). Plus, their best and brightest have already exited to point in South America. Did I mention Maduro is allowing prisoners to exit conditioned on their leaving the country for the US. BAM!
Are things expected to get any better soon? Not according to figures released by the US Border Patrol. The flow is going to stay high.
That's right, the US Border Patrol projects illegal immigration this year to be greater than in 2021 and just slightly below last year. Does that sound good to you?
BTW, Guatemala, El Salvador & Honduras are also sending legions of folks over. News Flash! Argentina is looking like a good prospect too! With inflation running at 140% and 40% of its population living in poverty you may see whole new groups coming here in the future.
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