WH considers cash payments to Central Americans to stem migration
By: FonrougeGab (New York Post)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
It’s pay to stay away.
The Biden administration is considering sending cash payments to Central Americans in a bid to prevent them from making the trek north as the US grapples with the worst immigration crisis seen in 20 years, Reuters reported Friday .
The potential cash transfer program would be targeted at residents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, which account for the overwhelming majority of migrants illegally crossing the border, Roberta Jacobson, the White House’s southern border coordinator, told the outlet.
“We’re looking at all of the productive options to address both the economic reasons people may be migrating, as well as the protection and security reasons,” Jacobson told the outlet in an interview.
In March, nearly 170,000 migrants were picked up by US Border Patrol agents at the southern border, a 70 percent increase from February and the highest monthly total seen since March 2001, data show.
Numbers have steadily increased since the start of the year and are attributed to a host of factors. They include the pandemic, natural disasters in those regions and a more welcoming attitude from President Biden, who rolled back a series of strict immigration policies set in place by his predecessor.
Local law enforcement units and public officials along the border have criticized Biden for not doing enough to stem or prepare for the surge, which has left thousands of unaccompanied children languishing in federal custody at the reported cost of $60 million a week .
The White House hopes the cash payments will address economic issues Central Americans face so they won’t feel the need to migrate, the outlet said citing a senior White House official who is unnamed.
Jacobson, who announced Friday she is stepping down , couldn’t explain to Reuters how the program would work but did say she can “promise” “the U.S. government isn’t going to be handing out money or checks to people.”
The administration is also mulling a plan to send COVID-19 vaccines to Central American countries, which have had extremely slow vaccine rollouts. In Honduras and Guatemala, less than one-percent of the population has been vaccinated and in El Salvador, only 2.5 percent have gotten the jab. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccinations-tracker.html
Jacobson said the administration hasn’t come to a decision on whether to prioritize sending vaccines to Northern Triangle countries but said Biden will consider how the inoculations could help those locales’ struggling economies.
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What a dirty, filthy progressive idea!
What an insult to the American taxpayer!
I hold every independent who voted for Joe Biden responsible.
"The Biden administration is considering . . . "
Crazy right? That our President and his administration are considering bribing foreign nationals with taxpayers money to not surge towards our Southern border. Isn't that kinda like a protection racket?
"They include the pandemic, natural disasters in those regions and a more welcoming attitude from President Biden, who rolled back a series of strict immigration policies set in place by his predecessor."
Hey Vic, which "strict immigration policies" did Biden roll back, cause i guess i missed them ?
Like it hasn't been all over the media.
Biden and the Democrats have been ringing the dinner bell load and clear for illegal immigrants since the Democratic primaries. They got exactly what they wanted- the worst border crisis since 2000.
I guess you really have missed them.
Biden rolled back or ended the following:
The "Public Charge" rule.
The travel and immigration restrictions on 13 foreign countries that are known to harbor violent terrorists.
The policy that separated illegal alien children from their supposed "parents" at the border.
Ended the prolonged detention in Mexico to await resolution of legal process. The "Remain in Mexico" policy.
Adopted a 100-day freeze on deportations.
Ended the National Immigration Emergency policy which enabled the transfer of military funds to build wall.
Ended private detention centers, which led to overcrowding and the widespread release of illegal aliens.
They must think we'll get tired.
Actually, i've been sick Vic, like, even more than my normal 'sick' Vic, so shoot me. Anyway, most of your examples have minor implication and influence imho
Pretty much all of them, iggy..
Each and every single one that Trump had anything to do with
Oh, BTW, Jacobson is no longer in office.
She claims that she only intended to help out for the first hundred days...Lol
More like make a mess of things...
A wall would be better and would not make the USA look like we are paying ransom to keep them from coming
Central America. The FY2021 request included $376.9 million to address the underlying conditions driving irregular migration from Central America to the United States by promoting good governance, economic prosperity, and improved security in the region. That would have been a $156.3 million (29%) cut compared with the FY2020 estimate. The request did not include any foreign aid specifically for El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras (the “Northern Triangle” of Central America). However, the Administration asserted that those countries could receive a portion of the assistance requested for CARSI and the USAID Latin America and Caribbean Regional Program if their governments continued to take action to stem migration to the United States.
Mexico. Mexico would have received $63.8 million of assistance under the FY2021 request, which would have been a $94.2 million (60%) cut compared with the FY2020 estimate. Mexico traditionally was not a major U.S. aid recipient due to its middle-income status, but it began receiving larger amounts of counternarcotics and anti-crime assistance through the Mérida Initiative in FY2008. The Administration’s FY2021 request for Mexico would have funded efforts to strengthen the rule of law; secure borders and ports; and combat transnational organized crime, including opium poppy cultivation and heroin and fentanyl production.
Central America. P.L. 116-260 states that $505.9 million “should be made available” for Central America and that such assistance “shall be prioritized for programs and activities that address the key factors that contribute to the migration of unaccompanied, undocumented minors to the United States. ” That amount is $129 million more than the Administration requested but $27 million less than was allocated to the region in FY2020. As in prior years, the act requires the State Department to withhold some assistance for the Northern Triangle countries until it can certify the Northern Triangle governments are addressing certain congressional concerns. The explanatory statement accompanying the act designates country-by-country funding levels, as well as allocations for certain priorities, including $45 million to support Offices of Attorneys General and other entities to combat corruption and impunity and $25 million to combat sexual and gender-based violence in the region.
The explanatory statement accompanying P.L. 116-260 allocates $159.9 million for Mexico, which is $95 million more than the Administration requested and $1 million more than was allocated to the country in FY2020. The explanatory statement also directs the State Department to withhold some FMF from Mexico until it can certify the Mexican government is cooperating on counternarcotics efforts and addressing human rights concerns.
So, the Trump administration requested funding - Congress (i.e. Democrats) didn't like the administration's requested funding and jacked it up to fit their desires. And now, now, Congress/Biden is saying that we're not GIVING the neighbors to the South enough money to cure their problems?????
Get the frick outta here.
Party before country at all times. Doesn't matter how much they fuck us over. We don't matter.
That goes for both the Democrats and Republicans by the way.
The line for that money will never end.