The loss of USAID: Impacts at home
To the editor:
Since the start of the second Trump administration, foreign aid has been under attack with the unquestionable support of our local representatives. Here in the 19th Congressional District our Representative, Byron Donalds’ is seeking to land himself in the Governor’s Mansion this fall. His gubernatorial website, the prime resource for voters to see his legislative priorities lists the issues he’s committed to. “Enact the Trump Agenda,” is the first thing you’ll see.
Previous to DOGE’s dismantling of USAID during January of 2025, foreign aid created 2.8 million jobs for Floridians, through the exporting of Floridian made goods and services, including university research. And yet, the administration carelessly cut lifesaving aid programs, which in addition to saving lives overseas, also directly improved the lives of us Floridians. To Rep. Donalds, who has committed himself to following the President’s every whim at the cost of his own reputation, the issue of foreign aid appears inconsequential.
Up until January of 2025, my alma mater, Florida State University, through the support of USAID was able to develop the Learning Systems Institute to train teachers and improve learning both here in Florida and internationally. Civics programs developed by LSI, for example, are hosted on CPalms, a platform used across the State of Florida which houses Florida’s official state standards.
Most recently, in November of 2025 the LSI joined UNICEF, The World Bank, and the Ministry of Education in Ethiopia with “Educators Shaping Futures.” This event featured teachers and policymakers from over 40 nations, all to address the worldwide education crisis (a crisis Florida has experienced first-hand).
Educational programs such as those implemented by LSI are proven to improve lives. Adhering to international standards of basic education in countries in which it has been lacking has reduced gender disparities in terms of achievement, earnings, rights, and health. Increasing education also has the tendency to increase democratic values among citizens.
Overall, the LSI was able to help 49 different countries through the planning and implementation of USAID policies.
Beyond education, the University of Florida, hosted the “AREA Project to Leave a Long-Lasting Legacy.” This was a five-year-long project which aimed to drastically improve Haiti’s agricultural sector, so as to eliminate food insecurity across the nation, an issue which has driven many Haitians to flee to the United States. This project was funded by USAID, but since its being cut, the website is defunct and most of the information on the project has been archived.
Along with cuts to programs housed in Florida’s universities, as of May of last year, $25 million dollars in grants attributed to Floridian businesses were cut. These impacted businesses focusing on cybersecurity, translation services, and even small-business support. In such cases, international projects were trials for applying these programs back home.
$29 million was cut from Florida-based nonprofits, which provided food, medicine, and education to those in need. This even included $5.5 million in cuts to faith-based organizations.
All of these programs were lifesaving internationally, but they also drastically improved the lifestyles of Floridian students, educators, farmers, businesspeople, and ultimately Florida as a whole. These programs are mourned everyday by all who benefited from them.
It is therefore essential to call out those who have made these decisions, and pressure them to make necessary changes.
Opinion polling from The New York Times (March 30) shows Rep. Donalds leading the gubernatorial race. Having been endorsed by the President, it seems likely that the polls will become reality and Byron Donalds may be our next governor. However, Florida does not need another Trump parrot. Donalds’ only goals seem to be making Florida a haven for MAGA voters; root out all illegal immigrants, seal the border, destroy educational standards, and sell every inch of Florida to developers.
Yet, by supporting Trump’s agenda Donalds’ fails to lead Florida to prosperity, even by his own standards. At the very least, if Donalds’ had used his power as District 19’s representative to speak out against the shuttering of USAID, then the educational, health-focused, financial, democratic, and overall lifesaving programs it housed, could have been allowed to continue its work building safe nations, where their citizens wouldn’t have to consider leaving behind everything they had ever known for a chance at what remains of the American dream.
In light of recent DHS actions it is my belief that if the current administration and Representative Donalds continues to insist on deporting immigrants regardless of their legal status, then the very least that we as Americans can do, is ensure that these immigrants are received by a country that can protect them.
In my efforts to take a stand against ICE and the loss of USAID, I have begun volunteering at the Alliance for American Leadership. The Alliance is a non-partisan political action committee leading the charge on establishing humanitarian foreign aid in the absence of USAID.
I believe Floridians should join the Alliance to loudly and proudly support saving lives and rebuilding the nation (and building up Florida in the first place) to its status as the highest distributor of humanitarian foreign aid.
As I have argued, foreign aid is lifesaving at home and abroad, and as a Floridian I hope to see Rep. Donalds defy Donald Trump, and use what remains of his Congressional powers to proudly support rebuilding humanitarian foreign aid efforts.
Alyssa Bernhardt
Cape Coral