Push factors like gang violence, poverty, and even climate change can drive immigrants to leave their home countries to seek a better life in the United States. Millions of immigrants across Central America have sought asylum to escape increasing gun violence — much of which comes at the hands of U.S.-trafficked and manufactured guns. A new study from the University of Michigan and the University of Colorado examined how firearms affect migration and the role the U.S. plays in the firearm-related threats many immigrants report facing in their countries. Institute postdoctoral fellow Eugenio Weigend Vargas spoke Texas Public Radio about the study.
