Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a roundtable Monday night to announce that international businesses have committed $1.2 billion to investing in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
In May, she made an appeal for companies to invest in the Central American countries to improve stability and opportunity.
Harris touched on other measures by the Biden administration that are trying to address the root causes of the flood of migrants to the United States.
Today was an important milestone, according to Harris. Six months ago, we launched a call to action for businesses to invest in Central America. Six months ago, there were 12 people around the table. Today, we have 77 partners who are here and virtually here, with 1,300 more businesses, civil society leaders, who are watching this conversation and this convening.
Six months ago, we had a commitment of $750 million. Today, we have a commitment of over $1.2 billion. The meeting included representatives from Microsoft, PepsiCo, MasterCard, Cargill and Nespresso.
Other investments will come from Parkdale Mills, which will build a new yarn spinning facility in Honduras, and CARE International, which will build a $50 million Center for Gender Equity in Guatemala.
Two important task forces were announced in Guatemala to address human smuggling and corruption.
As a matter of fact, more than 60 Guatemalans died in Mexico last Thursday, as a result of a dangerous trek that many migrants must take in order to reach the U.S. They were in a tractor trailer accident after paying smugglers to take them to the border. This is a reminder of the human toll that is associated with that plight. As a neighbor in the Western Hemisphere, I think we all know that the United States has an important role in addressing the root causes of migration. She said that our government can't do its job alone.
In March, Biden assigned her to partially oversee the border crisis, which was the latest from Harris to address the border crisis. Her work includes understanding the economic and political forces driving migrants to cross the U.S. southern border illegally.