Congressional Democrats said on Saturday Donald Trump’s decision to cut aid to three Central American countries will only increase the flow of migrants into the US.
As the state department announced that it will cut aid to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, at the president’s order, leading House Democrats were on a congressional visit to El Salvador.
House foreign affairs committee chair Eliot Engel and others said in a statement US aid was helping deal with the root causes of migration by families and children.
Trump’s move, they said, was therefore “entirely counterproductive”.
The state department said it would suspend payments to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The Trump administration gave no immediate explanation. Trump has made slowing immigration from those countries through Mexico a bedrock issue of his presidency.
The announcement came after Trump threatened to shut down the US border with Mexico. Such a severe move could hit the economies of both countries, but on Friday Trump said he was “not kidding around”. The closure “could mean all trade” with Mexico would cease, he said.
Trump has been promising for more than two years to build a wall along the border, though Congress has been reluctant to provide the money.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to close the border. This time, he gave a definite timetable.