In his article “This Common Argument for U.S Foreign Aid is Actually Quite Xenophobic” posted in The
Washington Post on March 31, 2017, William Easterly discusses the changes made
to the U.S. foreign aid policy by first stating that “President Trump’s proposed
budget includes steep cuts in foreign assistance.” The argument for foreign aid
helped increase, then sustain the U.S. foreign aid budget after 9/11, (the
annual U.S. aid increased from $8 billion before 9/11 to $18 billion after
9/11) unfortunately the continued reliance on the argument has left the foreign
aid vulnerable to deep cuts. One of the reasoning’s from Easterly is that “the
link from aid to counter-terrorism never had any evidence behind it.” Another one
of Easterly’s reasoning’s is that “…the argument falsely generalized that the
nationals of the poorest countries were prone to terrorism…” which he felt “…contributed
to today’s toxic xenophobia toward refugees and migrants….” When I first read
the title for William Easterly’s article I was set to disagree with him, but as
I read his article I started realizing how much sense it made. I completely
agree with Easterly’s article, most arguments that support foreign aid promote terrible
images of immigrants. Easterly ends his article with a thought that I feel
could only exist in a perfect world, “Let’s transcend our pettier squabbles about
aid to come together in affirming the equal dignity and worth of all persons,
regardless of religion, income level or nation of origin.” Unfortunately, fear
sells better than equality, and that’s why immigrants will always be seen as enemies.
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