A Plan for Moving Forward on Comprehensive Immigration Reform
The Impact of Unaccompanied Alien Children on Education in U.S. Communities
I recently completed a paper on the impact of more than 76,000 Unaccompanied Alien Children placed in U.S. communities by the Department of Homeland Security over the last four years. Contact me at michael@maxeys.org for more information.
The Marie Maxey Foundation website is here.
You can support your favorite charity by using the Microsoft Bing Search Engine. Download a PowerPoint slide with hyper-links to walk you through the process. Or better yet, send me an email at michael@maxeys.org and I will provide you instructions on how to sign up for Bing Giving.
Microsoft will donate up to $4.50 a month to your designated charity after you sign up for Microsoft Rewards and then create a Bing Giving account. The process takes about five minutes. Every time you use the Bing Search engine, you generate $0.005 for your charity. Our experience indicates that normal search engine use per month generates any where from $2.00 to $3.00. At the end of each month, Microsoft will send your donation to your designated charity.
Find out how to painlessly support your favorite charity. We, of course, hope you will support the Marie Maxey Foundation
Remittances 2019 Update here.
See my summary of the 2018 World Bank Development Report "Learning To Realize Education's Promise"
US Communities Have a Stake in What Happens in the Northern Triangle: Here's Why
Unaccompanied Alien Children arrivals in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area from 2014 - 2017 amounted to almost 20,000 children out of a total of 209,659 that came to the US during that period. This means that one in ten UACs arriving in the US chose Washington DC metro area as their destination. Education cost data from this geographic area indicates that approximately $250 million per year was needed to keep these children in school.
Using the data from the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the following table was created showing to which counties and cities, UACs have been sent during FY 2014 - FY2017. Multiplying the cost per student for those localities by the number of UACs gives a rough estimate of education costs. Using the actual cost per student (characterized as "low") indicated that over $250,000,000 in additional education costs were incurred by these US communities each year.
The graph below illustrates the change in ethnic diversity of students in Fairfax County, Viriginia school system. This points to a rapidly growing Hispanic population. Education costs are increasing and the county faces hard choices in either cutting services or increasing taxes.
A presentation I made to the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University highlighted the potential generational strife that could be encountered as different tax strategies are proposed to cover funding shortfalls for education. Fairfax County proposed a tax on meals that would disproportionately impact younger citizens while an increase in real estate taxes would hit the retired citizens on fixed incomes who have already seen their home's value increase causing a greater tax burden for them. See my presentation at GWU Foreign Affairs Budget & Central America.
Note: The cost of Honduran education per child was calculated by dividing the Honduran education budget by the number of children in public schools in Honduras. The 2017 budget was approved at $1.1 billion and there were 1.7 million students in public schools for a per student cost of $647.
Sources:
Iraq 2008 -2009 - Stabilization Efforts - North Babil Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team
Northern Triangle Origin Residents in the US
Changing demographics and migration patterns are creating new market segments in the US and Latin America. Linking market initiatives to these populations can promote economic growth and lessen the triggers of out migration. These initiatives can also create American jobs as they support the continued growth of "Third Wave" coffee retailers across the US.
For an example of this approach see my LinkedIn article on Honduran coffee marketing.
Michael Maxey
Guest Worker Housing Program: The Key to Unlocking Development Financing in Central America's Northern Triangle
Read my article in LinkedIn Pulse:
The Mystery of Capital - Unlocking Investment Capital in Central America
via a Guest Worker Housing Program
Coffee is cultivated in over 50 countries, has an annual value of $170 billion, is produced primarily by smallholder farmers and generates $23 billion in annual export earnings.[1] More than 100 million people gain at least part of their livelihood from coffee and 25 million farmers grow the crop worldwide. As the second most traded global commodity, coffee significantly impacts rural family purchasing power. Despite the global value of coffee and the livelihood potential it represents to millions, many coffee areas suffer food insecurity and widespread poverty. Current research indicates changing world climate will decrease coffee yield and quality and further impoverish these rural populations. It is critical that action to be taken to (1) assess and identify coffee areas at risk of significant negative impacts, (2) inform policy makers and stakeholders of the scope and seriousness of the situation, and (3) design and implement effective mitigation and adaptation programs.
[1] World coffee trade (1963 – 2013): A review of the markets, challenges and opportunities facing the sector. International Coffee Council, 112th Session 3 – 7 March 2014 London, United Kingdom Note: Coffee value calculated based on 142 million 60kg bags per year converted to roasted coffee by dividing by 1.19 with average cost per cup estimated at $2 in traditional markets and $1.50 per cup in exporting and emerging markets. http://www.ico.org/news/icc-111-5-r1e-world-coffee-outlook.pdf
Finding ways to adapt to these changes and the social and economic impacts they will cause should be an important aspect of our overall climate adaptation strategies. Changes in coffee areas that cause out migration can affect US communities directly. Finding ways to help Central American communities adapt to climate change is in US foreign policy interests. Out migration carries a social and economic cost for both Central America and the United States.
Central America
Coffee leaf rust disease in Central America is causing job loss now in chronically poor and food insecure areas now and the threat is for a greater increase over the next two years. The potential impact could be an increase in out migration from this region to the US.
Virginia
International issues sometimes directly affect local communities in the US. Immigration is an example of the need to address the triggers of out migration in key geographic regions such as Central America. We need to understand what conditions contribute to significant changes in demographics and plan how we will address these changes.
Yemen
Social and economic development in Yemen is critically important to addressing stability and peace in the Middle East, and agriculture, employing over 50% of the national work force, is critical. Yemen's unique Arabica coffee could provide an opportunity for sustainable development and a better future.
Read my latest article published at Devex.com -
Grass-roots democracy as the way forward on water resource management in Yemen.
Follow these links to a water management "think piece" regarding Yemen and to a "history" of traditional water management techniques in Yemen.
Mississippi
"The past is not dead, it's not even past."
William Faulkner - "Requiem for a Nun"
Historical impact of slavery is an interesting topic of discussion. The book "Why Nations Fail" by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson posited that extractive institutions such as slavery created cultural norms that had historical impacts. The map below presents information from the 1860 US Census showing slave population in Mississippi. The higher the population of slaves the darker the map on the left. This is compared to poverty levels as measured by the 2010 Census. The darker green areas have the higher poverty levels.
