Root Causes Strategy (RCS) or U.S. Strategy to Address the Root Causes of Migration in Central America is a federal government/private sector approach to address the root causes of illegal immigration into the United States from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras (collectively called the Northern Triangle of Central America).
The strategy was initiated when on February 2, 2021, when President Biden signed an Executive Order that called for the development of this plan.
[1] The plan, led by Vice President Harris, consists of private sector investment into the Northern Triangle countries in order to develop the region and curb illegal immigration into the U.S..[2] The strategy consists of five pillars:[1] In February 2021, President Biden signed the Executive Order Creating a Comprehensive Regional Framework to Address the Causes of Migration, to Manage Migration Throughout North and Central America, and to Provide Safe and Orderly Processing of Asylum Seekers at the United States Border.
According to the Associated Press article Takeaways: Harris’ approach to migration was more nuanced than critics or allies portray it:[12]Migration from those three Central American countries did gradually drop, though experts say it’s unlikely that Harris’ plan was a major factor.
Ariel Ruiz Soto, a senior policy analyst with the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group stated:[13]It was focused on a long-term scenario and it was focused on countries that are no longer the primary sending countries.In a 2023 report to Congress by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), examples of the success were reported in terms of the pillars of the program: Notes: