Vice President Kamala Harris made a visit to her native California this week for a series of engagements with faith and business leaders, and to address attendees at the CEO Summit of the Americas.
In her speech, the former California Attorney General and U.S. Senator stressed the importance of partnering with the private sector to address the issues directly causing immigration, such as people fleeing harm or circumstances where they cannot provide their own basic needs. The partnership was launched in May 2021, when the number of migrants crossing the U.S. border reached a 20-year high at over 180,000. Yesterday, she announced that the initiative has now raised $3.2 billion dollars to invest in Central America.
“This investment is on track to generate tens of thousands of jobs. It will help more than 10 million people access banking services and credit and two million people already have been connected to the internet with millions more to follow,” Harris said.
The Vice President also said that the government is making corruption and the women’s empowerment top priorities in order to drive economic growth.
“Together, we are creating an ecosystem of opportunity, and any good public policy of course, must then be designed with an eye for application. I believe, truly, that our approach can indeed be applied elsewhere, on other issues, in other parts of our hemisphere and even by other governments,” Harris added.
President Joe Biden joined Harris in L.A. for the summit on Wednesday. This is the first time the United States has hosted the organization’s official forum of private sector stakeholders since 1994. While the event is meant to show focus on the region, Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador will not attend due to the exclusion of autocratic countries, including Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
Biden is expected to officially announce his “Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity” plan to rebuild economies from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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