Happy New Year 2025

Tag: curb

  • Federal agency in DOGE’s crosshairs played key role in Harris’ strategy to curb migrant crisis

    Federal agency in DOGE’s crosshairs played key role in Harris’ strategy to curb migrant crisis

    When the Biden administration launched its strategy to tackle “root causes” of migration at the southern border during a time of rapidly rising and historic illegal immigration, the now-frozen United States Agency for International Development (USAID) played a significant role.

    During the Biden administration, Vice President Kamala Harris was tasked with leading diplomacy in Latin America to tackle the root causes, identified as issues like gang violence, climate change and poverty. It consisted of both government initiatives and funding from private organizations.

    USAID, which was frozen in recent days over concerns about misspending, played a key role in the distribution of funds. While certain operations have been halted to get a full picture of USAID funding to the region, it is possible to get a glimpse of the help it provided.

    JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP FROM PLACING 2,200 USAID WORKERS ON LEAVE 

    President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he walks to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland Feb. 7, 2025. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

    In 2021, the first year of the Biden administration, USAID announced Centroamérica Local, a 5-year, $300 million initiative that funded organizations in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to address the root causes of migration to the U.S.

    “Under this new initiative, Centroamérica Local, USAID intends to invest up to $300 million, subject to the availability of funds, toward engaging, strengthening, and funding local organizations to implement programs to advance sustainable and equitable economic growth, improve governance, fight corruption, protect human rights, improve citizen security, and combat sexual and gender-based violence,” USAID said in a statement at the time.

    “These programs are being carried out under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Root Causes Strategy and deliver on the Agency’s goal to foster greater engagement with local organizations and communities in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras and advance stability in the region.”

    More was still to come.

    TOP DEM STRATEGISTS WARN USAID FUNDING FIGHT IS A ‘TRAP’ FOR THE PARTY

    In 2022, USAID announced programs in Central America to end gender-based violence, including a $6.5 million program in Guatemala and a $2.7 million program in Honduras. That built off a program announced in El Salvadaor.

    In March last year, Harris met with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo and announced a planned investment of $135 million in USAID funding, alongside $170 million to aid development, economic health and security assistance.

    Included in the announcement was an expansion of the Central American Service Corps, which was created in 2022 at the Summit of Americas. The expanded program was funded by USAID and aimed to reach 2,800 people seen at most risk of migrating by engaging them with volunteer work, employment and training.

    Also announced for Guatemala was a USAID-implemented “Feed the Future” program to strengthen the capacity of research and education entities to scale agricultural technologies and to support research and education related to “climate smart” agriculture.

    USAID flag

    A flag outside U.S. Agency for International Development headquarters Feb. 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Getty Images)

    USAID was also to implement a new “Guatemala Biodiversity Conservation” program to promote the conservation of biodiversity and strengthen protected areas and other areas of ecological importance.

    In September, USAID announced an additional $10.75 million in funding for Guatemala.

    USAID STAFFERS STUNNED, ANGERED BY TRUMP ADMIN’S DOGE SHUTDOWN OF $40B AGENCY

    That came after USAID invested over $153 million in Guatemala in 2023 to allegedly support the government in efforts to strengthen democracy and improve opportunities. According to a release, funded activities included “integrated rural and agricultural development, sustainable economic growth, support for the construction of climate-resilient infrastructure, and digital development and e-governance.”

    Harris was dogged by the “border czar” title throughout her unsuccessful presidential bid as she largely dropped the root causes emphasis and instead focused on the Biden administration’s efforts to secure the border.

    President Donald Trump’s administration has demonstrated a skepticism of the root causes strategy, both in its leaning in on border security and interior enforcement and also its moves to cut or freeze funding abroad.

    CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    In his first week in office, Trump also rescinded Biden’s 2021 executive order creating a “comprehensive regional framework to address the causes of migration, to manage migration throughout North and Central America and to provide safe and orderly processing of asylum seekers at the United States border.”

    He also revoked an executive order to rebuild and enhance programs to resettle refugees and plan for “the impact of climate change on migration.”

    Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.

    He can be reached at adam.shaw2@fox.com or on Twitter.

  • A weakened Iran has Iraq looking to curb Tehran-backed extremists in country

    A weakened Iran has Iraq looking to curb Tehran-backed extremists in country

    Join Fox News for access to this content

    Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account – free of charge.

    By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive.

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Having trouble? Click here.

    With Iranian influence waning in the Middle East, the Iraqi government wants armed groups, including factions within the Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), to lay down their arms and join the state security forces or integrate into the state-recognized Popular Mobilization Forces.

    Iraq’s foreign minister, Fuad Hussein, recently told Reuters that armed groups operating inside Iraq and outside state control are unacceptable.

    “Many political leaders, many political parties started to raise a discussion, and I hope that we can convince the leaders of these groups to lay down their arms, and then to be part of the armed forces under the responsibility of the government,” Hussein told Reuters. 

    US, IRAQI FORCES UNLEASH AIRSTRIKE ON ISIS TARGETS, KILL TERRORISTS HIDING IN CAVE

    There is also fear around the region, with the power vacuum left by the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and a decimated Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, that Iraq may be next to fall.

    Jonathan Schanzer, executive director at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that the collapse of the Assad regime was the precipitating moment for the Iraqi government to make its move against Iranian militias. 

    An Iraqi flag is flown at a protest. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)

    “Right now, the Iraqis are wondering if they are next and everyone is fearful of the toxic influence and corrosive nature of Iranian influence in the state,” Schanzer said.

    Foreign Minister Hussein told Reuters that he does not think Iraq is the next domino to fall.

    The IRI is a group of armed Islamic resistance factions under the umbrella of the Iran-backed “Axis of Resistance.” These groups are the most difficult for the Iraqi government to manage and were responsible for the attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan in January 2024. The IRI is aligned with Iran and has been engaging in armed operations against Israel and U.S. coalition forces since Oct. 7.

    WHO IS THE IRAN-BACKED COALITION ISLAMIC RESISTANCE IN IRAQ, RESPONSIBLE FOR DEADLY DRONE STRIKE ON US TROOPS?

    Also operating in Iraq are the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The PMF was formed in 2014 after Iraq’s Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called for Iraqis to rise up and fight against the Islamic State. Tehran sent IRGC advisers, weapons and other military support to the PMF to combat ISIS, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency. 

    The PMF are formally recognized as an official part of the Iraqi state security forces and report directly to the prime minister.

    Iraq Soleimani Mourners

    Mourners chant slogans against the U.S. during the funeral of Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, in the shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala, Iraq, on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

    “Current discussions revolve around how to effectively manage the so-called Islamic Resistance factions, some of which have gained media prominence since Oct. 7 while conducting armed operations under the label of Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” Inna Rudolf, who studied the PMF at King’s College London, told Fox News Digital.

    Many of these resistance factions, Rudolf said, have also registered brigades within the state-recognized PMF umbrella. 

    “The question for decision-makers remains how to neutralize these elements and mitigate the risk of dragging both the PMF and the Iraqi state into a poorly timed geopolitical escalation,” Rudolf said.

    NETANYAHU HAILS ‘HISTORIC’ FALL OF BASHAR ASSAD IN SYRIA, CREDITS ISRAELI ATTACKS ON HEZBOLLAH, IRAN

    Rudolf pointed out that although Iranian proxies have been significantly weakened since Oct. 7, pressure has intensified in light of reports suggesting Israel could retaliate against Iranian groups inside Iraq. 

    Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani

    Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani attends a ceremony in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 9, 2024.

    Many observers of the region think Iraq’s attempt to rein in armed factions at this moment is a sign of Iran’s diminished position in the region.

    “The fact that major security sector reform in respect to the Popular Mobilization Forces is being conducted at this time is representative of Iran’s weakened role in the country and an imperative amongst more moderate forces, as well as the U.S., to seize on this and create momentum,” Caroline Rose, a senior analyst and head of the Power Vacuums Program at the New Lines Institute, told Fox News Digital.

    CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Elections in Iraq are scheduled for this fall, and Prime Minister Sudani is attempting to negotiate an acceptable form of bilateral security cooperation with the U.S., including the status of U.S. forces inside the country. The U.S. currently has about 2,500 troops serving in Iraq as part of the anti-ISIS Operation Inherent Resolve effort.

    Observers of the region agreed that if Iraq is unable to demonstrate its ability to rein in rogue groups conducting armed operations against the prime minister, sustaining security cooperation with the United States, especially under President Donald Trump, could be impossible.