President Trump and his administration just made some bold moves forward in combating the immigration crisis facing the nation.
On Monday, the president announced impending actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement just after his State Department revealed that the pipeline of new financial aid to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala will be cut off until there is some progress made on dealing with illegal immigrants.
(Video: YouTube/DC Examiner)
State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus announced Monday that Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala had not taken enough action to curb illegal immigrants coming to the United States and the administration would therefore be cutting off new funding until there was some “concrete actions” taken.
“We will not provide new funds for programs in those countries until we are satisfied that the Northern Triangle governments are taking concrete actions to reduce the number of migrants coming to the U.S. border,” she said. “This is consistent with the president’s direction and with the recognition that it is critical that there be sufficient political will in these countries to address the problem at its source.”
Trump initially ordered more than $615 million in assistance to be cut completely in March but Ortagus explained that a review of that decision led to some easing of the restriction. While new funding to those countries will not be allowed until they take the necessary steps to combat the illegal immigration problem, $432 million in projects and grants that were previously approved have been green-lighted.
The remaining amount, according to the State Department, will be held in escrow as the administration holds discussions with Congress.
According to Associated Press:
That $432 million, which comes from the 2017 budget, is being spent on health, education and poverty alleviation programs as well as anti-crime efforts that many believe help reduce migrant outflows from the impoverished Northern Triangle region. About $370 million in money from the 2018 budget will not be spent and instead will be moved to other projects, the State Department said.
“Previously awarded grants and contracts will continue with current funding,” Ortagus said, adding that assistance “to help the Northern Triangle governments take actions that will protect the U.S. border and counter transnational organized crime will also continue.”
The announcement comes on the heels of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection report last week indicating that May apprehensions topped 144,000. A 99 percent increase from this time last year is evident in the 676,315 apprehensions so far, according to the Washington Examiner.
Monday’s announced financial aid update on Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala was followed later in the evening with a pair of tweets from Trump revealing that next week, ICE will begin to remove migrants who have entered the U.S. illegally.
Next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States. They will be removed as fast as they come in. Mexico, using their strong immigration laws, is doing a very good job of stopping people…….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2019
….long before they get to our Southern Border. Guatemala is getting ready to sign a Safe-Third Agreement. The only ones who won’t do anything are the Democrats in Congress. They must vote to get rid of the loopholes, and fix asylum! If so, Border Crisis will end quickly!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2019
Although he didn’t offer any details, Trump’s bold move comes after the deal he reached with Mexico earlier this month which includes, among other things, a plan to return asylum-seeking migrants to Mexico.
The president also noted in his tweet that Guatemala was “getting ready” to sign a safe third country agreement with the U.S., allowing both countries to be seen as “safe” for asylum seekers and thereby curbing the flow of migrants applying for refugee status in the U.S. after traveling through another country. The U.S. currently has a safe third country agreement with Canada.
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Frieda@bizpacreview.com
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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