Posted on 01/29/2015 6:01:17 PM PST by jazusamo
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.
Obama will make the request in his budget for fiscal 2016 on Monday.
The money would allow the U.S. to fund several efforts Biden outlined such as providing community-based policing and eliminating crime networks.
Under the plan, the U.S. would provide $400 million to promote trade, reduce poverty and improve customs and border integration, among other programs, according to a White House fact sheet.
The U.S. would also give $300 million to improve security and reduce crime. Nearly $250 million would help Central American governments identify necessary reforms they could implement,
The region’s leaders must also realize, Biden said, that aid from the U.S. would not be enough to help them recover. Instead, he recommended that each government manage their finances more effectively.
The increased request comes with House Republican lawmakers focused on border security.
House GOP lawmakers have delayed a vote on a bill that is intended to address security at the U.S. border because of jurisdictional issues involving two congressional committees.
Agencies that supervise the border, which are funded through the Department of Homeland Security, are still operating on 2014 funding levels. Congress must pass a new funding bill by Feb. 27 or the entire department could shut down.
A House-passed bill from earlier this month would provide additional funding to Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but the measure contains riders congressional Democrats and the White House oppose because they would undermine the president's immigration actions.
The money will be used to upgrade the Mexican railway line “the beast” to handle more passengers.
They would not be stuck with them for long. They have this process called deportation. Neat idea. We ought to try it sometime.
How about putting up a fence?
Exactly, Mexico would close their southern border post haste.
Every time he opens his mouth, or takes a trip, he comes back with several billion more of our dollars he wants to commit elsewhere. Why can’t he be stopped?
Because Boner and McClown have deflated balls.
Clearly America wants the burden of taxes to cover the excessive nObama induced bleeding.
or they are unaware.
I knew they were going to go for this approach when I heard a clip of DHS Jeh Johnson say we Americans have too much “draw” (prosperity) here, for the Central Americans to resist...since they’re so economically disadvantaged.
No thanks.
We just took millions of their citizens, I think we need to pay USA bills because we have to support these people, that’s enough already.
wait. we should be requesting 1 billion From CA to help pay the costs of absorbing millions of their poor - which improved their societies at the expense of ours.
and if half that amount is for militarization, well, it might be cheaper to just go in and clear out the mess ourselves
Stop. Just stop throwing tax payer money across the border.
Obama wants to buy plane tickets, bus tickets, train tickets, and rubber rafts.
If Obama is running for a Third term , shouldn’t he be throwing money around in the US or is planning on running for President Of The World ? LOL
Until the flow f illegals is haul-ted, w con not entertain any form if normalization for those already here.
Um, I think they need to be paying US for taking these freeloaders off their hands.
It is time for the government to stop printing and borrowing money to give away to other governments who are perfectly free to print and borrow their own currencies. I am tired of going in debt to pay for things that others don’t want to pay for themselves.
If we really need to help a country, let us create a billion dollars out of thin air and use it to buy steel for a sufficient border fence from them.
How about a billion for Texas to shoot back.
Use the billion to prosecute employers that hire illegal aliens!!!
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