Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas will be traveling to Mexico to discuss the border with Mexico’s president. The officials will work to find a better way to address an unprecedented amount of migrants currently at the border, according to White House officials.
The planned trip comes after President Joe Biden spoke with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Thursday, Dec. 21. Both leaders agree more measures are urgently needed to better contain a surge in illegal migration.
According to White House officials, Mexico and the U.S. will decide what “additional enforcement actions” can be taken immediately.
Every day, the number of migrants in the U.S. grows by the thousands.
In Eagle Pass, Texas, migrants find themselves in long lines waiting to be processed. Customs and Border Protection say more than 12,000 migrants entered the U.S. per day for three consecutive days, which is the highest daily numbers ever recorded.
There is also a record number of migrants in U.S. custody. Over 27,000 migrants are waiting to be processed, most of which will be released into the U.S. according to CBP officials.
With Texas border communities overwhelmed, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has sent dozens of buses and planes full of migrants to sanctuary cities outside of his state this year. The latest plane landed in Chicago this week.
These temporary solutions are facing issues. Some ports of entry at the border are closed because certain sectors are overrun. International railways are also being suspended temporarily.
The unprecedented amount of migrants is impacting normal operations at the border, adding to the pressure on the Biden administration as top officials prepare for their meeting with Mexico.
