President Donald Trump’s administration said Saturday it intends to end foreign assistance programs for Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

On the surface, that move does not seem to imply more than what you and I can read it for at face value: They just will not send more aid to those countries, right?

Look deeper, though, and there are some consequences of such an action that could have some unintended impacts on the United States.

First, let me tell you how much money those countries would miss if the proposed end to this program happened: NBC News said the aid affects nearly $500 million in 2018 funds and millions more left over from the previous fiscal year.

For clarification, the end of this program would end FY 2017 and FY 2018 assistance for these countries, which is why these figures are left-over amounts from those years.

Now, the reason this move has me even going in depth over it is because I believe the United States needs to help other countries whenever possible.

And, clearly, we have helped these three countries specifically, considering there was even a program for aid for them in the first place.

But like I stated, this action, if it goes through, could have a very counterintuitive effect that Trump has been fighting since he started campaigning years ago.

But, I also think there is a very clear reason as to why the administration is proposing this aid program cut.

NBC News reported that after the administration proposed this action, Democrats called this action counterproductive.

Why?

There is a very simple reason why because the Democrats basically said that by cutting aid to those countries, it could have the effect of those citizens fleeing to find refuge in the United States.

They are not wrong.

For so long, that has been a main reason and even theorized reason as to why people flee to the United States: Conditions in their respective countries are not great and they want a new, better start for themselves and their families.

Trump has made it known that he does not want a lot of people coming into this country, going so far as to criticize the caravans that have formed to come to America.

But, by cutting funding to these countries, what can he realistically expect going forward?

Well, we need to be real; he has made it a priority to make border security tough, so he may not be worried about more people getting in to the country.

But, I think the real reason the administration is proposing this program cut is in response to the blowback it got for the Special Olympics fuss it created, specifically Education Secretary Betsy DeVos created.

After her proposal to cut funding to the Special Olympics, everyone criticized it and Trump said he would stop that proposal and keep full funding for the Olympics.

But, by cutting this funding to the three countries that would be affected, what does Trump gain?

Saving money, for one, but also more money to put somewhere else.

Maybe, for border security?

I cannot say for sure, but I would really not be surprised if he turns around and sends that money to border security, or the wall specifically.

So, to answer Democrats’ response of saying that cutting the funding could lead to more migration to America, I think Trump already thought two steps ahead with this new proposal from his administration.

Dillan Schorfheide is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or at dtschorfheide@eiu.edu.