Harris to announce enterprise investments in Central America – KIRO 7 Information Seattle

WASHINGTON – (AP) – Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday will announce pledges from a dozen companies and organizations to invest in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to address the root causes of migration from the region.

Participants include corporate giants like Mastercard and Microsoft, and Pro Mujer, a nonprofit focused on helping low-income women in Latin America, as well as the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and the World Economic Forum.

Leaders in the effort Harris had planned virtually and in person at an event at her ceremonies office later Thursday. The vice president should issue a “call to action” for businesses and nonprofits to make new commitments to promote economic opportunity in Central America. The aim is to focus aid on helping vulnerable populations such as women and young people and investing in internet access, vocational training programs and efforts to tackle food shortages.

It is part of Harris’ role in addressing the root causes of migration to the United States, an assignment she received from President Joe Biden in March. Harris had multiple calls with the presidents of Guatemala and Mexico and held meetings with stakeholders, policy experts and companies in the region.

She plans to visit Guatemala and Mexico in early June for her first trip abroad as Vice President.

Harris stressed the need for economic development in the region and public-private partnerships to address the challenges there. The government supports a proposal to donate $ 7 billion to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras in the hope that the aid can fight the poverty and violence that are causing people to flee to the United States

But the increase in migration at the border has become a significant political problem for Harris and Biden. Republicans accuse them of inaction over a crisis caused in part by the president’s decision to halt construction of the US-Mexico border wall and end some restrictions on asylum seekers.

April was the second biggest month for unaccompanied children on the border after the all-time high in March. The total number of Border Patrol encounters in April increased 3% from March, the highest since April 2000. The April encounters are not directly comparable as most of the people stopped were under pandemic-related powers Federal asylum seekers have been swiftly deported from the United States, and because deportation does not result in a legal penalty, many attempt to cross multiple times.

The increase has put a strain on the capacity of the Border Police and Department of Health and Human Services to keep minors in temporary shelters until they can be placed with relatives or sponsors in the U.S. while authorities decide whether they have a legal right to stay in the U.S. USA to remain country, either by asylum or for any other reason. It has also sparked criticism from Republicans pointing to Harris and Biden’s decision not to visit the border to investigate the situation as evidence of their negligence.

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