The Atlantic: The U.S. Used to Criticize Countries That Didn’t Allow Their Citizens to Leave
“President Donald Trump said on Twitter on Monday that the United States was cutting off aid to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador because they hadn’t stopped ‘people from leaving their country and coming illegally to the U.S.’ The remarks are significant: For decades, the United States criticized totalitarian regimes that didn’t allow their citizens to leave in violation of international norms. Now, by demanding that these three countries stop their citizens from leaving, Trump is breaking from that precedent…” (Calamur, 10/22).

Devex: U.S. ambassador to El Salvador contradicts Trump on aid
“As United States President Donald Trump on Monday repeated threats to suspend aid to Central American countries, the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador reaffirmed American support for the region to help create more stable societies. ‘The government of the United States remains committed to addressing the root causes of migration,’ Ambassador Jean Manes said Monday at the Central America Donors Forum in San Salvador. ‘The fundamental issue of migration has not changed. People feel a substantial need to migrate due to a lack of security and economic opportunities in their home country.’ … It is against international law for countries to prevent their citizens from leaving…” (Welsh, 10/23).

Washington Post: Trump vows to reduce aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador as migrant caravan grows
“… ‘Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were not able to do the job of stopping people from leaving their country and coming illegally to the U.S.,’ Trump said in one of a string of morning tweets on the subject. ‘We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them.’ It was not immediately clear what payments Trump was referring to or the extent to which he could act without congressional approval…” (Wagner et al., 10/22).

Additional coverage of the caravan and Trump’s comments is available from TIME, VOA News, and Wall Street Journal.