Wall Street Journal: Trump Officials Try to Defend Plan to Cut Aid to Three Central American Nations
“Senior administration officials sought to defend President Trump’s proposal to cut foreign aid to three Central American countries he says are complicit in the flow of illegal migrants toward the U.S., following a wave of criticism that the move was counterproductive. Since the president’s remarks on Friday and a statement the following day from the State Department announcing the cuts to funding for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, the administration has provided little detail of how much would be cut and has declined to clarify how the president had the authority to do so. … Immigration analysts said the proposed cuts are likely to backfire and risk fostering the root causes of migration such as grinding poverty and widespread violence, as well as lawlessness that feeds government corruption and extortion by criminal organizations…” (Lubold et al., 3/31).

Additional coverage of the Trump administration’s plan is available from the Associated Press, NBC News, New York Times, and Washington Post.