Sec. 1012. Statement of policy on Plan Central America
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Congress makes the following findings: The stability and security of Central American nations have a direct impact on the stability and security of the United States. Over the past decade, stability and increased security in the Republic of Colombia has pushed illicit trafficking to Central America bringing increased violence and instability. Much of Central America has seen spikes in violence and homicides. In fiscal year 2013, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released its Global Study on Homicide 2013.
Four of the top five countries with the highest homicide rates in the world were Central American nations including Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, and Guatemala. In calendar year 2014, approximately 65,000 unaccompanied alien children from Central America entered the United States through its southwest border. This number of such children who enter the United States during calendar year 2015 is expected to be approximately the same. The southwest border of the United States continues to be porous to illicit trafficking of narcotics, weapons, cash, and people.
In November 2014, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador announced a Plan for the Alliance for Prosperity of the Northern Triangle. This plan is a comprehensive approach to address the ongoing violence and instability facing these three nations by stimulating economic opportunities, improving public safety and rule of law, and strengthening institutions to increase trust in the state. The United States Government has stated its support for the Alliance for Prosperity and included in the President’s fiscal year 2016 budget request $1,000,000,000 in Department of State funds, to support the strategy for United States engagement in Central America.
According to the strategy, this funding will be focused on promoting prosperity and regional economic integration, enhancing security, and promoting improved governance. None of the President’s $1,000,000,000 budget request for the strategy for United States engagement in Central America includes any funding for Department of Defense programs in the region. The Department of Defense provides training, equipment, education, and interdiction efforts to address security challenges in Central America through detection and monitoring of illicit trafficking, assistance in illicit trafficking interdictions, and building partnership capacities.
The Department of Defense through its roles and missions, is executing a plan to address security challenges in Central America in conjunction with the United States Strategy for Engagement in Central America. It shall be the policy of the United States to prioritize a Plan Central America to address the threatening levels of violence, instability, illicit trafficking, and transnational organized crime that challenge the sovereignty of Central American nations and security of the United States.
In order to address such issues, the Department of Defense shall— increase the efforts of the Department of Defense as the lead agency to detect and monitor the aerial and maritime illicit trafficking into the United States; increase the efforts of the Department of Defense to support aerial and maritime illicit trafficking interdiction efforts; increase the efforts of the Department of Defense to build partnership capacity with partner nations in Central America to confront security challenges through increased training opportunities, education, and exercises; enforce human rights requirements consistent with section 2249e of title 10, United States Code, and increase the training and education regarding human rights provided in Central American nations; and support interagency efforts in Central America addressing all levels of instability including development, education, economic, political, and security challenges.