WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th October, 2019) �President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the United States would soon announce new assistance for Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador after the three countries signed asylum cooperation deals with the United States.
"Guatemala, Honduras & El Salvador have all signed historic Asylum Cooperation Agreements and are working to end the scourge of human smuggling. To further accelerate this progress, the US will shortly be approving targeted assistance in the areas of law enforcement & security," Trump said via Twitter.
The announcement comes after the State Department in June said that it was reviewing some $615 million in assistance and would stop providing any new funds to the three countries until they took action to curb illegal migration.
Acting US Homeland Secretary Keven McAleenan will visit San Salvador on Thursday for talks with Guatemalan, Salvadorian and Honduran officials on confronting irregular migration and transnational crime, the Department of Homeland Security said in a press release earlier on Wednesday.
"The Acting Secretary will participate in a Central American Ministerial with Guatemala Minister of Government Enrique Degenhart, Salvadoran Minister of Justice and Public Security Rogelio Rivas, and Honduran Minister of Security Julian Pacheco to discuss further collaboration to confront irregular migration and transnational criminal organizations in the region," the release said.
The Acting Secretary will also participate in a bilateral meeting with Honduran government officials, the release said.
Amnesty International has said there are no accurate estimates of the number of Central American migrants who enter Mexico without documents to try and find their way into the United States. Migrants typically make a perilous journey of nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles), during which many of the men, women and children suffer assaults, robbery and abduction by criminal gangs.
According to the rights group, there are also reports of extortion and ill-treatment by police and immigration officials, with some of the migrants even killed along the way.
