Vice President Kamala Harris host a roundtable with faith leaders on reproductive health care rights at the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor on Monday, June 6, 2022 in Los Angeles, CA. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) LOS ANGELES - Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday that the Biden administration's work to attract investment to Central America, part of the U.S.
effort to reduce migration, has generated $3.2 billion in private-sector commitments."We know the American people will benefit from stable and prosperous neighbors," she said during remarks on the second day of the Summit of the Americas, which brings together countries from across the hemisphere. "And when we provide economic opportunity for people in Central America, we address an important driver of migration."President Joe Biden, who arrives at the summit on Wednesday, tasked Harris last year with addressing the root causes of migration, which routinely strains U.S.
resources at the border with Mexico. Progress has been slow, a reflection of the region's intractable problems and what some critics describe as U.S.
neglect.Harris said she would focus on empowering women who face poverty and violence in their home countries. The effort is known as "In Her Hands," and it aims to connect more women to the banking system, help them participate in agriculture and provide them with training in coding and cybersecurity."When you lift up the economic status of women, you lift up the economic status of families, of her community and of our entire hemisphere," Harris said.Her speech followed a roundtable with women leaders, including entrepreneurs, from Central America.This week's summit, which is being hosted by the U.S.