United States Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off a three-day diplomatic trip to the Northern Triangle on Monday focused on stemming migration to the US,
Al Jazeera reports.
During a joint news conference with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei held, Harris said that it is important to discourage people from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras – the three countries where the majority of migrants hail from – from making a journey to the US border.
“The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our borders,” Harris said. “If you come to our border you will be turned back.”
“Do not come, do not come,” she said.
The administration of US President Joe Biden, which took office in January, is under pressure to stem a surge in migrant arrivals from Central America fleeing poverty and corruption.
Harris also announced new steps to combat human trafficking, smuggling and corruption in Guatemala.
“The President and I agreed to continue our work to manage migration at Guatemala’s northern and southern borders,” she said.
“We also discussed illicit drugs that are being smuggled and humans who are being trafficked across these borders undermining the security of both Guatemala and the people of the United States.”
She said the US would help create a smuggling and human trafficking task force as well as an anti-corruption task force, charged with supporting and training local prosecutors to create an independent judiciary that would root our corruption networks in the country.
