McCarthy: Biden Plan To Give Cash To Central Americans An Insult To Millions of Jobless Americans

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy recently slammed the reported plan of President Joe Biden’s administration to give cash payments to Central Americans — saying this is an “insult” to the millions of Americans who remain without a job due to the wide-ranging impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week, the Democratic administration was reportedly considering a plan that would provide cash dole outs to Central Americans in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras using tax-funds to discourage them from trekking to the United States as illegal immigrants according to Reuters. 

The publication noted that Biden’s border czar, Roberta Jacobson —  who will step down at the end of the month — said the cash payments could be implemented by giving the fund to international and local NGOs, who would then pass on the money to the people of The Northern Triangle of Central Americans, the biggest source of immigrant crossers to the United States.

McCarthy, a top House Republican, blasted this reported response of the Biden administration to the spiraling crisis at the southern border and described it as a “betrayal” to the 9.7 million jobless Americans impacted by economic lockdowns imposed across various states in the country to quell Covid-19.

“We know the solutions needed to secure our border because the border was secure last year, and security was increasing with every mile of border wall,” McCarthy said in a statement.

“After reversing policies that worked, President Biden wants to try and buy our way out of this crisis with taxpayer money. The Administration is already spending $60 million a week dealing with the crisis they created at the border, but now it is reported they want to dole out even more taxpayer funds to launch a cash transfer program in Central America,” he added.

“It’s insulting to the millions of Americans who are out of work or facing despair in our country.”

McCarthy went on to say that the United States is “on track to encounter more than two million illegal immigrants by the end of September, an all-time record.” 

“Last month alone there were 172,000 migrants who attempted to enter our country, a two-decade high. We are only three months into this new Administration, and they are failing to stop one of the most consequential crises in a decade. The solution is at the ready, and it absolutely does not include more U.S. taxpayer-funded payments to Central America,” he added.

Reuters said in its report that the number of border crossers in March, was “the highest monthly tally since March 2001.”

“We’re looking at all of the productive options to address both the economic reasons people may be migrating, as well as the protection and security reasons,” Jacobson said of the Biden administration cash payment scheme, without providing more details on how the fund transfer program would work.

The Biden administration is currently facing decade-highs of illegal immigrants seeking to enter the country following more relaxed border policies — which overturned a series of immigration controls implemented by the former administration of Donald Trump. 

Recent reports also revealed that nearly 19,000 unaccompanied minors entered US custody along the US-Mexico border in March alone, which was the largest monthly number ever recorded.

As part of the Biden administration’s move to reinstate the Obama-era’s “catch-and-release” program — tens of thousands of these illegal immigrants have been released into US communities. Contrary to former President Trump’s hardline immigration policy, which kept the outpour of migrants seeking asylum, Biden’s message of “open borders” was earlier cited among the major reasons for the surge of migrants at the US-Mexico border.

The Biden administration had released more than 45,000 border crossers and illegal aliens into the US interior as of end-March, according to former US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Chief Mark Morgan. 

Various state officials have also noted that the Democratic administration’s sanctuary country orders are resulting in the release of criminal illegal aliens into American communities.

McCarthy pushes “American First” policy

Meanwhile, Rep. McCarthy has been a vocal critic of Biden’s immigration policies — often calling out the Democratic president for not putting “Americans first” on his agenda.

The top House Republican earlier slammed Biden for his planned $4 billion pledge for global vaccines as Americans await the promised stimulus checks saying that the Democratic administration should focus on helping Americans first.

He also called out Biden for his plan to “immediately” grant amnesty to roughly “11 to 22 million” illegal aliens residing in the US — telling him to focus first on getting Americans back on their feet amid the reeling impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The coronavirus and government-imposed lockdowns have left millions of Americans unemployed and small businesses shut down. Our immediate national priority must be to help Americans get back to work,” he said then.

Last January, President Biden offered $4 billion to countries in Central America to support “development” efforts according to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The federal government is reportedly spending $60 million per week to care for unaccompanied minors alone in the country’s borders.

Steeve Strange

Steeve is the CEO & Co-Founder of The Scoop.