Harris assures Guatemalan leader migration help ahead
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris told Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei Monday that the U.S. plans to increase relief to the Northern Triangle region and “strengthen our cooperation” to better manage the steep increase in migration at the U.S. southern border.
Harris made the comments during a virtual meeting with the president that marked an escalation of her diplomatic efforts to address the root causes of migration from the region, a role she was given by President Joe Biden last month. Harris will also meet with Guatemalan community-based organizations Tuesday, and has plans to hold a similar virtual meeting with the Mexican president next month, before heading to both countries in June.
The new role has offered Harris both a high-profile challenge and sparked increased criticism from Republicans, who have questioned why neither she nor the president have made a trip down to the border to review the situation there. The Border Patrol picked up a record number of unaccompanied children attempting to cross the border in March, and the influx of migrants has put a strain on the federal departments tasked with detaining, housing and processing those migrants.
In her new role, Harris has thus far called both Giammattei and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on the phone, and held a number of listening sessions with experts and advocates from the region.
In her opening remarks during the Monday meeting, she spoke about what she described as the “acute causes” of the spike in migration — hurricanes that battered the region last fall, a persistent drought and the COVID-19 pandemic — as well as “root causes,” such as the lack of economic opportunity in the region, extreme weather conditions and government corruption.
“We want to work with you to address both the acute causes, as well as the root causes, in a way that will bring hope to the people of Guatemala that there will be an opportunity for them if they stay at home,” Harris said.