Congressman Castro Leads Top Foreign Affairs, Appropriations Democrats in Fight to Protect Development Aid to Latin America
WASHINGTON — Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, led six top-ranking Foreign Affairs and Appropriations Democrats in a letter expressing strong opposition to the Trump administration’s illegal attempt to eliminate the Inter-American Foundation and end lifesaving and stabilizing development work in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Today’s letter was signed by Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (NY-05), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Lois Frankel (FL-22), ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Sara Jacobs (CA-51), ranking member of the Africa Subcommittee, Senator Tim Kaine (VA), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human, Rights, & Global Women’s Issues, and Senator Cory Booker (NJ), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy.
Congress established the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) in 1969 to support community-driven development, economic growth, and democratic governance in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2024, the Republican-controlled Congress appropriated $47 million for IAF programming, which has long earned bipartisan praise for addressing the root causes of forced migration in the Americas. On February 19, President Trump issued an executive order to effectively eliminate the Inter-American Foundation and other foreign development organizations, including the United States African Development Foundation (USADF).
“The IAF plays a crucial role in promoting U.S. interests in Latin America and the Caribbean by supporting community-driven development, fostering economic growth, and strengthening democratic governance. Moreover, the IAF is a statutorily authorized independent entity, supported by repeated bipartisan appropriations, and its elimination cannot be effectuated by executive action alone,” the members wrote in today’s letter.
“Eliminating this agency – or reducing its activities in an effort that would effectively eliminate it – would undermine U.S. leadership in the region and create a vacuum that adversarial powers would exploit to expand their influence and undermine congressional intent. We urge you to reconsider this action and respect the statute that governs the Inter-American Foundation’s existence. If your administration believes changes to the IAF’s mission or funding levels are necessary, such proposals must be submitted to Congress for legislative consideration, as required by law,” the members continued.
Today’s full letter on the IAF can be found here.
Earlier today, Congressman Castro and several signers of today’s IAF letter sent a similar letter opposing the Trump administration’s illegal efforts to eliminate the United States Africa Development Foundation. The full USADF letter can be viewed here.