WASHINGTON – Inside the $3.7 billion emergency package President Barack Obama is seeking to cope with the southwestern border crisis is a $300 million outlay to help repatriate and reintegrate Central American migrants with their home countries.
Thousands of unaccompanied children from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have fled gang violence and abuse in their home countries and are seeking refuge in the United States. Since October, more than 57,000 children have been apprehended at several points along the southwestern border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
As Congress scrambles to pass a funding bill to deal with the crisis before taking its August recess, lawmakers met Wednesday to discuss how the $300 million should be used.
It would be given to the State Department and other international groups to help the governments in the region better control their own borders and improve the poor economic and social conditions contributing to the migration, the White House said in a statement.
At a U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, economists and experts on the region offered recommendations on tackling the root causes driving migrants north from Central America.
The $300 million would go on top of the roughly $800 million that the U.S. has provided the region for security assistance since 2008, said Eric Olson, associate director of the Latin American program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
“Lest we take a hard look at those underlying problems, we’ll keep spending money to treat the heartbreaking symptoms at our borders,” said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., chairman of the Senate committee.
Reducing the gang violence that’s driving the migration is one priority, Olson said. This would require dealing directly with local gang members to end extortions, as well as expanding violence prevention programs in high-crime areas.
To be able to combat crime on their own — without direct assistance from the U.S. — the countries would need to professionalize their police forces, prosecutors and court systems, he recommended. In order to keep government officials accountable, records of crime statistics and the progress of court cases must be maintained.
Michael Shifter, president of Inter-American Dialogue, said U.S. officials should focus on the “coyotes” — criminal groups that profit from human trafficking and smuggling across the border and spread misinformation about U.S. immigration laws.
Shifter also suggested directing resources to youth programs that provide greater economic opportunities for at risk-youth that might keep them in their homelands.
“These funds should be seen as a down payment,” Carper said of Obama’s money request. “This cannot be one and done. If we’re serious about improving conditions in the region…we will need to do more—and, frankly, so will others.”