HOW TO THINK ABOUT IT

Open door. African migrants hoping to make it to the U.S. have much farther to go than those already in the Western Hemisphere. But one country is offering a way in: Ecuador’s relatively lenient visa policies have led to a sharp rise in African migrants over the past few years. As those numbers grow, however, the situation could change, as increasing migration stretches Ecuador’s resources to the breaking point.

Trans rights. Though many migrants attempting to enter the U.S. are fleeing bodily harm, the situation is particularly desperate for transgender people, who often face extraordinary discrimination and danger back home. The average life expectancy in El Salvador is 73 years, but for trans women, it’s just 33 years — and with more and more asylum applications to the U.S. being rejected, and with roughly half the trans women detained by ICE since October 2018 being sent home, the situation may turn more desperate.

Lifesavers. An estimated 4 million people have fled Venezuela since the country began to collapse, with shortages of food and medicine making life there difficult. But that’s been a boon to Chile, where thousands of Venezuelan doctors have fled … and set up shop, helping to mitigate a notorious dearth of doctors there. The change is especially notable in isolated Chilean Patagonia, which has struggled to retain medical professionals.

Storyteller. Nearly 1.5 million Syrian refugees are currently in Lebanon, and there’s some political pressure to send them all home. But Lebanese national Ali Abou Dehn, who spent time in Syria’s Tadmor prison, isn’t letting them go without a fight. He’s creating plays and films to educate people about his time in the notoriously horrific prison system, hoping to raise awareness (and anger) about the dangers faced within Syria.

WHAT TO READ

The Harsh World of Offshore Borders, by Paul Kramer at The New Republic
“Buffer states are regimes cultivated by destination countries to block migrants and prevent their onward mobility, often neighboring countries that are unstable, war-torn and migrant-generating themselves.”

Some Churches Offer Refuge From Deportation With ‘Sacred Resisting,’ by Talal Ansari in the Wall Street Journal
“Churches have long served as places of refuge, from sheltering escaped slaves as part of the Underground Railroad to providing safe haven for Central Americans fleeing conflict. Often, they have done so with little interference from the government.”

WHAT TO WATCH