2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke called President Trump an “arsonist” who started the current migration crisis so he could then get credit for “putting out the fire.” He then went on to say the *real* solution to all this is more taxpayer dollars for Central American countries so people don’t want to flee in the first place.

Have a watch:

Beto O’Rourke says Trump is an “arsonist” who created the border crisis so he can get credit for fixing it O'Rourke claims the answer is to send aid to Central American countries so they can fix their problems so people won't migrate The U.S. has done that and it hasn't worked pic.twitter.com/yOOuG5mMr4 — Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 12, 2019

Of course, President Trump has already pledged billions in aid for Honduras, El Salvador, Honduras and southern Mexico with the hope that those countries would do more to help stop the flow north. How’s that been working out?

In December 2018, the U.S. pledged $10.6 billion in aid to Central America specifically for improving conditions in those countries so people won't want to leave. The border crisis has gotten drastically worse since then. https://t.co/dF8OKwtFsK — Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 12, 2019

From the AP:

The United States pledged $5.8 billion in aid and investment Tuesday for strengthening government and economic development in Central America, and another $4.8 billion in development aid for southern Mexico. The U.S aid aims to promote better security conditions and job opportunities as part of a regional plan to allow Central Americans and Mexicans to remain in their countries and not have to emigrate.

Dems need to admit to themselves that sending more money is not the answer:

Why U.S. aid to Central America has not worked Sen. Patrick Leahy: "If we give American taxpayer dollars as aid to a foreign government whose leaders are not serious about rooting out corruption…then there are severe limitations on what we can achieve"https://t.co/vbyLFV3AHa — Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 12, 2019

From the FP:

Still other immigration experts believe no amount of aid dollars alone would reduce the incentive for Central Americans to try to get to the United States. “A lot of donor countries and development agencies would like to think of development as a cure for migration, but it’s just not,” said Kathleen Newland, the co-founder of the Migration Policy Institute. “There are so many other factors that go into people’s decisions to leave.”

This is who we’re funding?

The United States and other countries have pressed Honduras to crack down on corruption, even as Washington has regularly turned a blind eye to its graft and security force abuses. A string of cases have come to light, but the visibility has not necessarily solved the problem. It has mainly sharpened the picture of how severe corruption has become. Hernández, for example, admitted that public money was spent on his first presidential campaign, and there is proof that security forces killed protesters in the unrest after his recent election. Hernández’s brother was recently arrested in the United States on charges of drug trafficking.

Someone tell this to Beto, please.

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Related:

Hero Iowa Dem gives Beto O'Rourke a new nickname, and it's BRUTAL https://t.co/RWvrsP40Mo — Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 12, 2019