In response to reports that President Trump has directed the State Department to cut aid programs to Central America, Vicki Gass, Oxfam America Senior Policy Advisor for Central America and Mexico, issued the following statement:
“Cutting foreign aid to Central America is the absolute last thing the Trump administration should do right now. Not only is it morally wrong, it also counters efforts to address the root causes behind migration.
Aid cuts would be devastating to the region and would only foster the same instability that is making people flee in the first place. Cuts would waste U.S. taxpayer dollars that have already been invested and programs already set in motion that address violence, corruption and impunity, institutional weakness, and lack of economic opportunity across Central America.
Stopping aid is not going to make these problems go away; addressing them is the only answer.”