Kevin McAleenan has said that supporting the Northern Triangle countries will address the push factors that drive migration, smuggling and illicit trade.
After months of rocky relations with President Donald Trump over her leadership on his favorite issue, immigration, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen brought her tumultuous two-year tenure at the White House to an end on Sunday, submitting her long-anticipated resignation.
Since taking office, Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut financial support to Central American countries. The president has renewed the threat with greater force over the past month in response to a surge of Central American asylum seekers, including many families, arriving at the southern border.
Speaking at a discussion on development, security and migration in Central American nations, McAleenan asserted that his colleagues at USAID were"very mindful of ensuring that these investments are targeted and that they’re making an impact for U.S. policy" and"reducing migration flows" to the southern border.
"We've got three good partners in the administrations there," he said."If you look at El Salvador, the migration level from El Salvador has reduced 65 percent this year. What they're doing is working both on the security front and on the economic opportunity front." "The Alliance for Prosperity also shows a commitment by the Northern Triangle countries themselves to address economic and security challenges in the region," he said.
Significant challenges with food security in rural areas, McAleenan said, were"affecting the ability of families to provide for themselves." "We're seeing that directly translate into who's arriving at our border," he said."Really, the hunger concern has become a real prevalent push factor from our analysis and perspective."
"That's really fundamental to understand," McAleenan said."There's a lot of discussion about gang violence, there's a lot of discussion about coercion, but economics is the fundamental core of this."
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