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U.S. Federal funding freeze order rescinded; but CARSI funding still under review

by William Ysaguirre

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Jan. 30, 2025

Belizean non-governmental organizations and public sector agencies funded by the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) were concerned on Monday, January 27, that their funding would be axed by United States president Donald Trump’s executive order to freeze all foreign aid, federal loans and grants. The CARSI Economic Support Fund (CARSI-ESF) has awarded USD $10.8 million in 47 grants to 35 organizations since it was established in 2012.

Those concerns were somewhat allayed, as the Trump administration was forced to back-pedal on Monday’s order when a Federal judge in Washington D.C. issued a stop order on the freeze of federal domestic grants and loans; and by Tuesday evening 22 other states had filed similar lawsuits challenging the funding freeze as unconstitutional. A constitutional challenge has also been filed against Trump’s executive order denying birthright citizenship to children born in the United States, if their parents are undocumented illegals, or if not at least one of their parents is a U.S. citizen or a green card holder. Opponents argue that it violates the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed in 1868 after the Civil War, to grant citizenship to the children of African slaves born in the U.S.

However, on the home front the situation is still uncertain, because this afternoon when asked by Amandala, “Will CARSI projects in Belize be affected by President Trump’s executive order,” the Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Belize, Luke Martin responded that, “… all foreign assistance is on hold worldwide to allow time to ensure that it is line with the administration’s policies. The CARCI-ESF grants are included in this review.”

The CARSI-ESF funding to Belize peaked at over $1.7 million in the last year of the Obama administration 2016, and continued during President Trump’s first term in office, with $1.2 million awarded in 2017, more than USD$700,000 awarded in 2018, and over USD$800,000 awarded in 2019.

Most recently in 2022, the CARSI-ESF awarded grants to help the Human Trafficking Institute to improve service delivery to trafficking survivors and the various agencies’ response to trafficking in persons (TIP), to RET International to train transportation workers to identify and report suspected cases of human trafficking, and the Accountability Lab to fight corruption in government services to improve service to the public.

Over $600,000 was awarded in 2021, during the first year of President Biden’s administration, when the Belize Heroes program received CARSI-ESF funds to create an emergency health care system in partnership with the National Fire Service in the Cayo District. The Humana People to People Belize organization received CARSI funding to offer opportunities to vulnerable populations in partnership with the Department of Youth Services. The Trust for the Americas also got CARSI funding to build young Belizeans’ capacity for entrepreneurship and social innovation to develop sustainable solutions that support development.

In 2020, the last year of President Trump’s first term in office, about USD$750,000 in CARSI-ESF funds went to the Human Trafficking Institute, the LOVE Foundation, the Belize Zoo & Ecological Education Center, and the University of Texas on Tyler to enhance the primary education system through teacher training, in partnership with the Belize Ministry of Education.

The CARSI assistance begun by the Obama administration in 2008 had awarded some USD$498 million by the end of 2015, to the seven countries of the Central American isthmus, including Belize. The materials and equipment support helped local law enforcement and national security agencies, such as the Belize Defence Force and Coast Guard, to fight drugs and arms trafficking, the drug cartels and organized crime, and to address border security issues. By the end of the Obama administration in 2016, the CARSI program had delivered over USD$800 million in assistance to the entire region.  

It is yet to be seen if, or how much the CARSI-ESF funding to Belize will be affected by the new Trump “administration’s policies”.