Vice President Kamala Harris admitted on Thursday that her latest strategy to tackle causes of migration from Central America will not deliver rapid results as she launched a raft of policies that avoid detailed targets.
She said the U.S. alone cannot combat the factors that force people to leave Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador - such as corruption and violence - but claimed the United Nations, Japan and Mexico had all agreed to back the push.
The plans involve working with the private sector to try to accelerate change in Central America.
Officials said it amounted to a 'hard nosed' approach.
But even Harris admitted its limitations.
'We will build on what works, and we will pivot away from what does not work,' she wrote in a two-page letter to launch the strategy.
'It will not be easy, and progress will not be instantaneous, but we are committed to getting it right.'
'It will not be easy, and progress will not be instantaneous, but we are committed to getting it right,' said Kamala Harris in a letter as she launched the five-point plan
The administration has faced pressure for months as the number of people arriving at the southern border hits historic highs.
Even July's scorching temperatures have not thinned the numbers.
On Monday night, a group of 509 migrants turned themselves in near the border in Hidalgo, Texas. Hours earlier, another group of 336 migrants was found nearby, according to Brian Hastings, the Border Patrol chief for the Rio Grande Valley, a hot spot for ariivals.
At the same time, it emerged that tens of thousands of immigrants who were detained and then released without a court date had disappeared, according to
