By Rebecca Shabad - 01/29/15 07:59 PM EST

President Obama will ask Congress in his 2016 budget to approve $1 billion to help Central American countries in the wake of last summer’s surge of unaccompanied children entering the United States illegally.

In an op-ed published in The New York Times Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden said the “security and prosperity of Central America are inextricably linked with our own.”

Biden, whom Obama has tasked with leading an effort to aid countries such as El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, wrote that inadequate education, crime, a lack of investment and corruption are impeding their growth.

“On Monday, President Obama will request from Congress $1 billion to help Central America’s leaders make the difficult reforms and investments required to address the region’s interlocking security, governance and economic challenges,” Biden said.

He said it would be triple the amount the U.S. normally provides to that region.

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/23...r-border-surge