WASHINGTON: A top-level US delegation will head shortly to Mexico to discuss concerns on migration, the White House said Thursday, after telephone talks between Presidents Joe Biden and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Biden asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood Randall to travel to Mexico "in coming days," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
The Biden team will "meet with President Lopez Obrador and his team to discuss further actions that can be taken together to address current border challenges," Kirby said.
Biden heads to U.S.-Mexican border as immigration issue heats up
The talks and trip come as the rival Republican Party pushes Biden's Democrats for major changes on immigration policy in exchange for approving a package of emergency assistance for Ukraine and Israel.
Kirby said there has been a "dramatic increase" in migration across the border, largely from violence-ravaged Central American nations.
In their telephone call Thursday, Biden and Lopez Obrador "shared a similar concern about the increase in migratory flow here in recent weeks," Kirby said.
The two presidents talked "in broad terms about what can be done inside Mexico to slow that process down," he said.
Ideas include stepping up checkpoints on rail lines and highways and expanding the security presence on Mexico's southern border, Kirby said.
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