U.S. Lawmakers Have Reduced Security Assistance to Central America

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Free Beacon:

U.S. lawmakers have reduced security assistance to Central American countries that have become increasingly violent in recent months, in part fueling the current immigration problems at the U.S. border, experts and military commanders say.

 

Nearly 50,000 unaccompanied minors have illegally crossed the U.S. border this year—many fleeing gang violence in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, countries known as the “Northern Triangle.”

 

Honduras has the world’s highest murder rate and is the fastest growing source country for unlawful U.S. immigrants. El Salvador and Guatemala have the fourth and fifth highest homicide rates, according to a United Nations report.

 

However, lawmakers have recently placed more restrictions on U.S. security aid to Guatemala and Honduras under the International Military Education and Training (IMET) and Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programs.

 

For example, Congress raised the withholding requirement for assistance to the Honduran military and police from 20 percent to 35 percent in the 2014 appropriations law. Lawmakers can restrict that aid if they determine that Honduran forces are not respecting human rights and the rule of law.