Are American progressives simply colonizers in compassionate clothing?

America has a long tradition of interfering in Central American affairs, through diplomatic action, military incursion, or through policies designed to target the behavior of both citizens and governments in the region. The US is now poised to spend massive amounts of money, in addition to the media ad buys already touted by the White House, to impose its will on Central American governments and their constituents.

First, Biden announced that parents were welcome to send their children north, that their kids would be welcomed at the border and given not only admittance to the US, but shelter, food, education, and a pathway to citizenship. Even telling people not to come has done little to stem the flow of kids undertaking the perilous journey toward a better life in the US.

Now, after essentially luring children away from parents and country, the administration is telling adults not to come, not to find a way to join their kids, and to stay put. The promise is of more aid.

The White House, however, has been very clear that this aid is not going to governments in Guatemala, El Salvador, or Honduras, because the administration feels that these leaders are not trustworthy. Essentially, the US is bypassing national leaders in order to impose their will upon foreign societies.

This shows a shocking lack of respect for national leaders. And while the argument could be made that these governments are corrupt, influenced by criminal cartels, or perhaps guilty of human rights abuses, the same could be said of the Chinese Communist Party—yet the CCP and its leader Xi Jinping are given the utmost respect and consideration by the administration.

Could it be that the respect that China is afforded is only due to the nation's wealth and global influence? If El Salvador was the manufacturer of all of Amazon, Walmart, and Apple's goods, would the US be imposing their hefty financial weight on the nation in order to shape it into what America wants it to be? No. There is no way that would be happening. We know this because it is not happening in China, which is a nation that holds its citizens in concentration camps, forces abortions and sterilizations on the women held there, and forces reeducation and indoctrination. Is any of that really so much better than collusion with drug gangs?

The progressive agenda uses compassion as a cudgel to get people to behave in the way they would prefer. But one thing this compassion does not bring with it is any measure of respect. In enforcing their will through lax and contradictory border policy, as well as through bypassing Central American leaders and governments to enact their own brand of progressivism on a people that are getting no say in how that money is spent, it is clear that the Biden administration—or as the White House wants us to call it the Biden-Harris administration—has little to no respect for their Central American counterparts.

President Donald Trump, much-reviled for his border policies, dealt directly with national leaders. He offered them his respect, understanding that regardless of their actions in their own country, he had to deal with heads of state and not bypass their authority if he wanted to vouchsafe US interests.

For Trump, what was best for the US inside her own borders was a more relevant and essential undertaking than meddling in the internal, national affairs of our continental neighbors. Whether this was the right or wrong approach for Central American citizens is not the question—nor is it America's problem. America's problem is to secure her own borders, keep safe the rights of her citizens, and engender peaceful relationships with her neighbors, not impose her moral will on the citizens of other nations.

The progressive agenda, while problematic in the United States, was at least voted into office by a slim majority. Would-be immigrants from the south undoubtedly preferred Biden's ascension because of his promise to essentially open the border, but they may be less pleased to find that the federal government now feels entitled to dictate policies in their home regions as well.