WASHINGTON, April 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) —US opposition politicians and aid agencies have questioned a decision by President Donald Trump to cut off aid to three Central American states.
Trump ordered the suspension of aid payments to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to push their governments to stop migration into the US.
Critics say the decision will hurt programmes that already aim to persuade people to stay at home.
Congress may seek to stop the aid being redirected elsewhere.
US officials say the immigration system at the border with Mexico is already at breaking point yet the administration wants to increase the number of asylum seekers sent back over the border fivefold – from 60 a day to 300.
There has been a huge increase in asylum seekers fleeing violence in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. The three nations are where most of the migrants on the US southern border come from.
Trump has also said he is likely to close the border if Mexico does not do more to stop migrants crossing.
“We are carrying out the President’s direction and ending FY [fiscal year] 2017 and FY 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle,” a state department spokesperson said.
In 2017, Guatemala received over $248m while Honduras received $175m and El Salvador $115m.
“I’ve ended payments to Guatemala, to Honduras and El Salvador,” Trump told reporters on Friday.
“No money goes there anymore… We were paying them tremendous amounts of money and we’re not paying them any more because they haven’t done a thing for us.”
Aid advocates argue that the best way to stem migration from the region is to stimulate economic development and reduce violence there, and that it is too early to judge the impact of the aid, which was boosted in 2016 under President Barack Obama.
A group of House Democrats visiting El Salvador condemned Trump’s move in a joint statement, saying that Trump’s approach was “entirely counterproductive”.
Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, condemned the “reckless announcement”.
The state department said it would “engage Congress in the process”, suggesting that lawmakers would need to approve the cuts. — NNN-AGENCIES
