Bloomberg Opinion: Cutting U.S. Aid to Central America Is Self-Defeating
Editorial Board

“Just a day after the U.S. reached a new agreement on migration with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, President Donald Trump announced he was cutting off their aid. At a stroke he has thrown the State Department into chaos, and, more important, made it more likely that caravans of Central American migrants will keep heading north. … Ending U.S. aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras will not solve that problem. But it will certainly damage the organizations that distribute the aid, and will worsen the plight of their desperate clients. Since desperation drives migration, this is directly counterproductive. … Aid to Central America is no substitute for working with Congress to fix a broken asylum system. Yet helping El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras is part of the answer, cheap at the price, and very much in the U.S. interest. The president should reverse his decision” (4/4).

USA TODAY: Does Trump want more Central Americans fleeing to U.S.? That’s what his aid cutoff will do.
Sheba Crocker, vice president of humanitarian policy and practice at CARE USA

“If you want to tackle the problem of Central American migration, the last thing you should do is make the situation in those countries worse. But that’s exactly what would happen if U.S. foreign assistance is cut off to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Central American migration is rooted in violence, hunger, political instability, and grinding poverty — the very hardships and challenges U.S. development assistance to the region helps to alleviate. … Right now, people in these countries need more partnership, investments, and support from the U.S. Not less. This week CARE and 62 other humanitarian and development organizations signed a letter calling on Congress to oppose the White House’s self-defeating and counterproductive plan [to cut U.S. foreign assistance to these three countries]. … Every day, we see firsthand the good that these programs do — and the needs of the people they support. We remain resolute that the United States can and should continue to work with the people of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala to fight for a more peaceful and prosperous region” (4/3).