WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Thirty-four US senators, including Bernie Sanders, have sent a letter to President Donald Trump warning him not to end funding to three Central American nations as he has threatened to do, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto said in a press release on Friday.
"In their letter, the senators make clear the US Congress already appropriated these funds to advance United States’ foreign policy priorities related to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras," the release said.
The senators, who are all Democrats apart from Sanders, also noted that the Trump administration’s decision undermines years of bipartisan congressional efforts to increase the effectiveness of US foreign assistance to Central America.
"By obstructing the use of FY [fiscal year] 2018 national security funding and seeking to terminate similar funding from FY2017, you are personally undermining efforts to promote US national security and economic prosperity," the senators said.
The senators described Trump’s decision as "shortsighted" and said it presented serious risks to US national security.
The reported Trump's order is connected with his efforts to tackle illegal migration amid hundreds of Latin American residents striving to enter the United States. El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala have been the major countries from where migrants into America. Washington has for years provided assistance to local authorities in order to help stabilize the social environment there to prevent people from leaving.
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Last week, the US Customs and Border Protection reported that over 76,000 illegals crossed into the United States without authorization in February, which is an 11-year high.
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