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Although many of President Donald Trump's executive orders are extremely troubling, the 90-day freeze on funding for USAID and an immediate halt to all federally financed domestic and overseas humanitarian programs is particularly troubling to me.
Oversight and auditing of government funded agencies is necessary, but these tasks can be accomplished while the programs are still operating. USAID's funds comprise less than one percent of the annual federal budget.
The number of people who will die is estimated by some sources at several million people, and the even greater number of people who will continue to live in dehumanizing poverty is inexcusable. As a result of the directives, humanitarian aid organizations have laid off hundreds of employees.
Initiatives that Jesuit Refugee Services indicate "support health, education, development, job training, anti-corruption, security assistance and other efforts" have halted as directors frantically try to determine what the funding stoppage entails. Also, JRS asserts, "This halt interrupts critical life-saving work including clean water to infants, basic education for kids, ending the trafficking of girls and providing medications to children and others suffering from disease."
Systems that have been in place to provide necessary aid have broken down, and experts warn of the great difficulty in reinstating them. The U.S. does not operate in a vacuum; our relationships with other countries help to promote peace and good will. Many warn that the U.S. is creating a dangerous vacuum that our adversaries will seek to fill.
I urge fellow citizens to communicate your concerns with your congressmen. Empathy and compassion for others should be the bedrocks of a just society.
Teresa Jeffries
Tyrone