White House migration strategy faces new backlash from Central American leaders

President Joe Biden wants to stem soaring migration levels through aid to Central American countries and by targeting corruption, efforts that have shown mixed results in years past while stoking new opposition in a region that feels scapegoated by the new U.S. administration.

Buy-in from leaders in the countries people are leaving is "fundamental" to achieving success, said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington. But the new U.S. leader is finding such cooperation is not always easy to secure, with officials in the region questioning whether Biden and his team are up to the task of quelling the situation.

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has bristled at the administration's criticism, refusing to meet with Biden's envoy to the region during a visit last month and balking at rebukes from Washington this week, including from Vice President Kamala Harris, after his party ousted the country's attorney general and five top judges.

Bukele defended his decision in a meeting with foreign diplomats, purportedly private but broadcast on national television, that the move was within the law and that “elections have consequences.” Bukele's party, which won a landslide victory in March, voted on the measure over the weekend, arguing the court was hamstringing the president's ability to crack down on the spread of COVID-19 by overruling his lockdown orders. 

A top Harris aide told reporters the White House remains committed to working on migration issues with Bukele, as they are seeking to do with other regional leaders.

"The news out of El Salvador will not impact the administration’s efforts to work with the El Salvador government on immigration," Harris's chief spokeswoman, Symone Sanders, told reporters this week. But the White House, she added, expects Bukele "to respect the rule of law."