EL SALVADOR - The new U.S. ambassador to El Salvador says the United States is looking forward to reintegrating migrants there from other Central American nations who are seeking asylum in the United States.
Ambassador Ronald Johnson, speaking in his first interview since his appointment in July, told VOA there was not a timeline on when El Salvador would start taking in migrants.
“I don't have a timeline on it, but I do think that the intent is that it will be implemented in a way that is not burdensome to any of the countries,” Johnson said.
Last week, the U.S. deported its first asylum seeker to Guatemala as part of a Trump administration agreement with the Central American nation.
Under a July agreement between Washington and Guatemala City, asylum seekers have to file claims in Guatemala rather than in the United States if they crossed through Guatemala on their way to the U.S. border. The agreement primarily affects immigrants from Honduras and El Salvador, as land routes to the U.S. border from those countries pass through Guatemala.
Critics have raised concerns about sending asylum seekers to a country like Guatemala, which is struggling with violence and poverty.
Asked about the potential for gangs to cross borders and attack asylum seekers, Johnson told VOA the U.S. is “working very closely with all the countries that have signed an asylum agreement to ensure that people are reintegrated in a place where they do feel safe, and they have certain protections in place.”
Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can to view it offline.
Ambassador, thank you so much for speaking with Voice of America, I hear that this is your first interview since becoming ambassador, is that correct?
That is correct. I've been here a little less than three months now. And I can think of no better place to begin then with Voice of American with you, Carla. So thank you very much.
Well, thank you. Let's talk about your mission. You've had some aid that was pulled. How has that affected the mission?
We certainly have need here for those. And I think going forward, I mean, I'm very grateful to President Trump for recognizing the significant improvements in success that we've had here, and for being willing to turn that assistance back on. So we had a brief pause. But we're ready to, we're ready to start up again and move forward with the programs that we had in place. And we were able to continue with things that continued to support our security arrangements, illegal immigration, and continue to promote things like, for example, we’re opening 46 new schools here this year.
I'm looking at this map and I'm seeing how much Pacific Ocean coastline there is, and it makes me wonder how critical the US presence here is to the drug fight?
It's extremely critical. And as I said, Salvador is a transit zone. And if it were easier to land illegal narcotics in El Salvador and then move them over land, or by air, to the United States, we would see a lot more of that occur. So I'm very encouraged by the success that we've had working with the Salvadorans in the counter-narcotics mission, and I look for that to not just to continue but to increase. I don't know President (Nayib) Bukele has commented on that several times too about his desire to end illegal drugs here. Now ending illegal drugs is difficult, but making improvements is important and it's everyone's mission.
We have a lot of migrants that are coming from this country, up to the United States. How would you describe the current status of El Salvador?
President Bukele stepped up shortly after his inauguration and accepted responsibility for forcing people--by the standards of living here in El Salvador and the violence--forcing people to make a bad decision to put their families at risk and make this journey to the US border illegally. He accepted responsibility and he said, “We in El Salvador have to change those conditions.” For me, that was music to my ears, because he has the same goals for El Salvador that I do. And that is to improve the security situation, so that people don't feel threatened and forced out of their in their neighborhoods and away from their families, and to increase economic opportunities here, so that they can make a future for themselves here in their homeland, with their families, and with the country that they grew up in.
How interconnected is the gang violence and the drug trafficking between El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala?