U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Mexico City on Wednesday for a crucial meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
The primary agenda of their discussion is the escalating crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The urgency of Blinken's visit is underscored by the ongoing march of a migrant caravan towards the U.S. border. The caravan, led by Luis Garcia Villagran, director of the Center for Human Dignification, currently comprises around 3,000 individuals. However, Villagran, known for aiding asylum seekers in their northward journey, anticipates that the group could swell to nearly 15,000.
CNN reports that Blinken will be accompanied by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall. Ahead of the meeting, DHS officials have been formulating potential strategies that Mexico could adopt to stem the tide of illegal immigration into the U.S. These include redirecting migrants southwards, monitoring railways to prevent their use for human smuggling, and offering incentives to discourage potential migrants from embarking on the journey.
The Biden administration has been under mounting pressure to address the situation, with Congressional Republicans calling for increased funding to resolve the border crisis. They have linked this demand to the requested funding for Ukraine and Israel.
Last week, President Biden and President Obrador acknowledged in a phone call the urgent need for action. Both leaders expressed a mutual interest in reopening vital ports of entry that had been shut down due to staff redeployment to other border areas to manage irregular crossings, as reported by CNN.
The migrant caravan in question set off from Tapachula, a city in southern Mexico, on Christmas Eve. The front of the caravan displayed a cross and a banner reading "Exodus from poverty" in Spanish. If the caravan expands to its projected size, it will be the largest to reach the U.S. border in a year.
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