WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, on Thursday released the following statement after Vice President Kamala Harris announced investments from 12 private companies and organizations to invest in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador as part of the administration’s efforts to address root causes of migration to the United States from Central America.

“We need to address the root causes of poverty and violence that drive people to leave their home countries if we want to address the flow of migrants into the United States from the Northern Triangle. The Biden administration is getting to the heart of the problem by smartly engaging the private sector in solutions that will make these countries safer and their economies more prosperous,” said Murphy.

Earlier this year, Murphy joined a bipartisan group of U.S. senators and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on a trip to El Paso, Texas, to get an update on the situation at the border, including how government agencies are processing and caring for unaccompanied children. During a press conference in Connecticut, Murphy highlighted that the situation at the border is a symptom of a larger crisis that exists outside the United States. 

###