I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2615 
To support the people of Central America and strengthen United States 
national security by addressing the root causes of migration from El 
Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 9, 2019 
Mr. ENGEL (for himself, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. SIRES, Mr. ROONEY of Florida, 
Mrs. TORRES of California, Mrs. WAGNER, and Mr. CUELLAR) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Af-
fairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To support the people of Central America and strengthen 
United States national security by addressing the root 
causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, and 
Honduras. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘United States-Northern Triangle Enhanced Engagement 
Act’’. 
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(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Report on drivers of migration from the Northern Triangle to the 
United States. 
Sec. 3. Actions to promote inclusive economic growth and development in the 
Northern Triangle. 
Sec. 4. Actions to combat corruption in the Northern Triangle. 
Sec. 5. Actions to strengthen democratic institutions in the Northern Triangle. 
Sec. 6. Actions to improve security conditions in the Northern Triangle. 
Sec. 7. Authorization of appropriations for assistance to Central America. 
Sec. 8. Conditions on assistance to the Northern Triangle. 
Sec. 9. Enhancing engagement with the Government of Mexico on the Northern 
Triangle. 
Sec. 10. Targeting assistance to address migration from communities in the 
Northern Triangle. 
Sec. 11. Targeted sanctions to fight corruption in the Northern Triangle. 
Sec. 12. Requirement to provide advance notification to Congress of security 
assistance to Northern Triangle countries. 
Sec. 13. Definitions. 
SEC. 2. REPORT ON DRIVERS OF MIGRATION FROM THE 
NORTHERN 
TRIANGLE 
TO 
THE 
UNITED 
STATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 
in coordination with the Administrator of the United 
States Agency for International Development and the 
heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall submit to 
the appropriate congressional committees a report on the 
drivers of migration from each of the Northern Triangle 
countries and the progress United States foreign assist-
ance is making in addressing such drivers. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The report required under sub-
section (a) shall include the following elements for each 
of 
the 
Northern 
Triangle 
countries, 
with 
data 
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disaggregated by municipality, age, and gender, as nec-
essary: 
(1) Information and data on all criminal activi-
ties, including drug trafficking, extortion, trafficking 
in persons, and gender-based violence, with par-
ticular emphasis on such activities carried out by 
criminal gangs and transnational criminal organiza-
tions such as MS–13 and the 18th Street Gang. 
(2) Data on the extent to which criminal activi-
ties referred to in paragraph (1) are reported to gov-
ernment authorities and the number of perpetrators 
investigated, apprehended, prosecuted, or convicted, 
versus the number of known perpetrators who are 
not so investigated, apprehended, prosecuted, or con-
victed. 
(3) Data on children and young adults forcibly 
recruited for criminal activities referred to in para-
graph (1), including the extent to which government 
authorities received reports of forced recruitment. 
(4) Data on internal displacement due to crimi-
nal activities referred to in paragraph (1), and serv-
ices, including temporary shelters, provided to those 
displaced by violence. 
(5) Data on gender-based violence by region 
and municipality and descriptions of gender-based 
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violence and domestic violence trends, including gen-
der-based violence against indigenous women, and 
correlation to outward migration. 
(6) Descriptions of the obstacles (including ca-
pacity gaps within the criminal justice systems) to 
resolving gender-based violence cases and deterring 
violence against women and children. 
(7) Information on the availability of trauma- 
informed legal and social services, including in shel-
ters, for victims of gender-based violence. 
(8) Data on the number of police officers, pros-
ecutors, court personnel, and specialized units 
trained in violence against women and children, in-
cluding data on the number of female police officers 
in each of the Northern Triangle countries. 
(9) Data on reported cases of abuse, including 
extrajudicial executions, allegedly committed by 
members of the security forces, and collusion be-
tween members of such security forces and gangs 
and other criminal groups, including transnational 
criminal organizations, and the number of perpetra-
tors investigated, apprehended, prosecuted, or con-
victed, versus the number of known perpetrators not 
so investigated, apprehended, prosecuted, or con-
victed. 
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(10) Descriptions of the strategies being imple-
mented to address forced recruitment of children 
and youth by gangs, transnational criminal organiza-
tions, and other criminal groups, and how such 
strategies are complemented by United States ef-
forts. 
(11) Descriptions of the strategies being imple-
mented by the governments of each of the Northern 
Triangle countries to address corruption and orga-
nized crime and how such strategies are com-
plemented by United States efforts. 
(12) Data on the effectiveness of anti-corrup-
tion strategies, including through bilateral and mul-
tilateral anti-corruption assistance. 
(13) An assessment of the extent of corruption, 
including regarding narcotics trafficking and illicit 
campaign financing, a description of steps taken and 
to be taken to impose sanctions pursuant to the 
Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act 
(22 U.S.C. 2656 note), and a list of senior officials 
who are known or credibly alleged to have committed 
or facilitated such corruption, not including individ-
uals who have already been sentenced to crimes in 
criminal courts. 
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(14) Descriptions of operating conditions for 
civil society organizations and independent media in 
each of the Northern Triangle countries, and data 
on harassment and attacks on civil society and inde-
pendent media from political and criminal actors. 
(15) An assessment of information sharing re-
garding known or suspected terrorists and other in-
dividuals and groups that pose a potential threat to 
United States national security that are crossing 
through or residing in the Northern Triangle. 
(16) Descriptions of the obstacles (including ca-
pacity gaps within the criminal justice systems) to 
resolving criminal cases and corruption and deter-
ring violence. 
(17) Data on the capacity of child welfare sys-
tems in each Northern Triangle country to protect 
unaccompanied children, including runaways and 
refugee returnees. 
(18) Data on the governance capacity of North-
ern Triangle country governments at the local and 
national level, including ability to deliver basic cit-
izen services, including tax collection and citizen se-
curity. 
(19) Data on the rates of extortion, the impact 
of extortion on local businesses and economies, and 
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the number of extortion cases investigated, pros-
ecuted, or convicted. 
(20) Data on the extent to which the Northern 
Triangle governments are promoting economic 
growth, improving health outcomes, and addressing 
the underlying causes of poverty and inequality 
through public policies. 
(21) Data on the activities of China and Rus-
sia, an assessment of the threat of such activities to 
United States interests, and the impact of such ac-
tivities on irregular migration. 
(c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report required 
under subsection (a) shall be made publicly available on 
the website of the Department of State. 
SEC. 3. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC 
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORTH-
ERN TRIANGLE. 
(a) SECRETARY
OF STATE PRIORITIZATION.—The 
Secretary of State shall prioritize economic development 
in the Northern Triangle countries by carrying out the fol-
lowing initiatives: 
(1) Supporting market-based solutions to elimi-
nate constraints to inclusive economic growth, in-
cluding through support for increased digital 
connectivity and the use of financial technology, and 
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private sector and civil society-led efforts to create 
jobs and foster economic prosperity. 
(2) Addressing underlying causes of poverty 
and inequality. 
(3) Responding to immediate humanitarian 
needs by increasing humanitarian assistance, includ-
ing through access to clean water, sanitation, hy-
giene, and shelter, and by providing health resources 
and improving food security. 
(4) 
Supporting 
community 
resilience 
and 
strengthening community preparedness for natural 
disasters and other external shocks. 
(5) Identifying, as appropriate, a role for the 
United States International Development Finance 
Corporation, the Millennium Challenge Corporation 
(MCC), the United States Agency for International 
Development, and the United States private sector 
in supporting efforts to increase private sector in-
vestment and strengthen economic prosperity. 
(6) Expanding comprehensive reintegration 
mechanisms for repatriated individuals once re-
turned to their countries of origin and supporting ef-
forts by the private sector to hire and train eligible 
returnees. 
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(7) Establishing monitoring and verification 
services to determine the well-being of repatriated 
children in order to determine if United States pro-
tection and screening functioned effectively in identi-
fying persecuted and trafficked children. 
(8) Supporting efforts to increase domestic re-
source mobilization, including through strengthening 
of tax collection and enforcement and legal arbitra-
tion mechanisms. 
(b) STRATEGY.— 
(1) ELEMENTS.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of State, in coordination with the Administrator of 
the United States Agency for International Develop-
ment, the President and Chief Executive Officer of 
the Inter-American Foundation, the Director of the 
United States Trade and Development Agency, the 
Chief Executive Officer of the United States Inter-
national Development Finance Corporation, and the 
heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall sub-
mit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
five-year strategy to support inclusive economic 
growth and development in the Northern Triangle 
countries by carrying out the initiatives described in 
subsection (a). 
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