President Trump actually has a point.

From Forbes:

“You know, they’ll let you think that they’re trying to stop this,” said Trump, referring to government officials in Central America. “They’re not trying to stop it. I think they encourage people from leaving. They don’t want the people. They don’t want the people that we’re getting in that country.”

President Trump actually has a point. The governments of Central America, by which I assume he is referring specifically to the Northern Triangle, have used the out migration of their people to reduce pressures on themselves to attain meaningful reforms and to bolster the region's economies through remittances. Migration has acted as a release valve to prevent social conflict from erupting and has prevented the region's economies from collapsing, as 15-20 percent of their economies are based on money from nationals living abroad.

What President Trump gets wrong, however, is his belief that the region is expelling its worst people - the people that they don't want and, therefore, that we don't want.

Often the people who leave are exactly the ones needed in Central America. Those who will no longer put up with corruption and poor governance. Those willing to make personal sacrifices by undertaking a treacherous journey north to an unknown land. Those willing to take jobs that most US citizens will not take because of low wages or danger. Those working overtime in order to send $15 billion in remittances to family members and friends left behind.

The Central Americans who leave are often those most needed in Central America. They also happen to be those most needed in the United States.