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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

With eye on border crush, Biden unveils strategy to tackle root causes of migration

The administration has said it will take a global approach to stem asylum seekers from the Northern Triangle.

WASHINGTON (CN) — Building off the strategies utilized by his predecessors, like the expansion of humanitarian aid in Central America’s Northern Triangle, President Joe Biden unveiled Thursday how his office will address the root causes of migration from Central America that brings millions each year to the southern border of the United States.

The White House has already proposed a four-year, $4 billion aid package for nations of the Northern Triangle — Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — where political violence and poverty fuel instability in the region. To qualify for U.S. funding, Biden has said governments in the region must "deliver[] measurable reductions in gang and gender-based violence, improvements in legal and educational systems, and implementation of anti-corruption measures, among other things."

But on Thursday, delivering on an executive order Biden made in February, the administration called for greater involvement by foreign governments and the private sector.

“We’re looking at actually building a broader coalition that includes, not just the U.S. government and its supporters, but members of the private sector, the foundations and the international community,” a senior White House official said during a call with reporters ahead of Thursday’s announcement.

While Thursday’s strategy is short on specifics about how international allies plan to step in, the U.S. has received prior commitments with regard to the Northern Triangle from Mexico, Japan and South Korea, as well as the United Nations.

As these talks continue, the administration said is it is consulting with labor unions, private businesses and international as well as civil society organizations. Vice President Kamala Harris will continue to serve as the administration’s diplomatic point person for the region.

The U.S. in April delivered $310 million of the promised $4 billion in April to address acute suffering and rampant food insecurity. Over $250 million has been allocated so far. The U.S. has also provided more than 10 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to the three countries in hopes of stemming the pandemic’s impact there.

Wealth inequality has exacerbated poverty in the Northern Triangle, and a drift toward authoritarian style governance has stunted economic growth since precious resources for things like education and public health are frequently diverted through corrupt schemes organized by bad actors.

Chief among the administration’s initiatives are structural reforms addressing judicial transparency and expanded access to financial capital for businesses. The U.S. also wants the region to work on enhancing and diversifying its trade and new export sectors, particularly those that “reinforce U.S. supply chain needs.”

“Effecting systemic change and achieving the desired end state of a democratic, prosperous and safe region will require the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to govern in a transparent, professional and inclusive manner that favors the public interest over narrow private interests,” the White House’s 20-page strategy report states.

Another point that the White House has underscored is adopting a more holistic approach to building up climate resilience in the Northern Triangle. This is necessary so that fisheries and agriculture are not left vulnerable, and progress made now is not completely undone in future, the White House argues. In that vein, the U.S. said it plans on promoting more “cross-border” energy infrastructure so nations can increase their own reliability while stimulating more consistent trade. Water and sanitation programs will also receive U.S. support.

To assist Central America with its governance capabilities, the White House recommends participating nations start sorting out a “merit-based, independent process for nomination and selection of justice and oversight officials,” while formalizing anti-corruption measures like limiting prosecution immunity and banning political candidates for office who have criminal records.

And to tamp down on violence, the U.S. says it wants participating governments to help support the development of security forces that are equipped with the right gear and trained to conduct internal oversight with an eye on corruption. Removing military elements from civilian policing will also be a priority.

Last month, according to data compiled by Customs and Border Protection, U.S. law enforcement encountered nearly 190,000 people attempting to cross the U.S. southern border — the highest number of migrants since Biden took office. Of that amount, there were roughly 500 migrant teenagers or children who arrived every day in June, CBP found.

The Biden administration has faced pressure on immigration issues for months though he has reversed a multitude of unpopular immigration initiatives from the former administration.

In January, Biden announced the U.S. would stop construction of a wall at the southern border, saying it was a waste of resources. Biden in June reallocated about $2.2 billion that former President Donald Trump had earmarked for the wall. The Office of Management and Budget said around the same time that certain portions of the wall erected by Trump — and in sections where barriers already existed — costed taxpayers up to $46 million per mile.

Biden used the wall funding instead to beef up the nation’s military and defense resources, including investing $25 million for a new battalion complex in North Carolina that would improve combat readiness, $80 million for a U.S. military school in Germany that supports more than 600 U.S. military kids, and, in another example, over $25 million to restore the fire and crash rescue station at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. The more-than-80-year-old base was leveled when Hurricane Michael swept ashore in 2018. Earlier this month local officials reported it would probably take five to seven years more to restore the base completely.

Biden also ended a Trump-era rule that forced asylum seeking migrants to stay in Mexico while waiting for their case to be considered. The administration’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced in May the department would start reuniting families separated under Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy.


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Categories / Financial, Government, International, Politics

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