Blinken heads to Mexico as the migrant caravan moves toward the U.S. border

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will travel to Mexico City on Wednesday to discuss the increase in illegal immigration as thousands of migrants move through southern Mexico in a mass movement toward the United States.

Mr Blinken will meet with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador at a time when border crossings have reached record numbers. There have been days this month when Border Patrol encountered more than 10,000 people at the southern border.

Wednesday’s meeting will also include Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, and Liz Sherwood-Randall, the White House homeland security adviser.

A huge caravan began its journey north on Sunday is a sign of the enormous challenges in turning the tide of migration. Local officials and news media reports in Mexico estimate that somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 people make the trip.

The southern border has been an ongoing political vulnerability for President Biden, who on his first day in office vowed to “restore humanity and American values ​​to our immigration system” after the broad restrictions of the Trump years.

But Biden has struggled to keep the numbers down despite efforts to impose restrictions on access to asylum at the border and deporting migrants to Venezuela and Cuba.

Although migrant caravans have become a common phenomenon and are typically broken up by authorities well before they reach the U.S. border, the latest march has drawn particular attention because of its timing, just before Mr. Blinken’s visit.

The caravan, about 1,000 miles south of the U.S. border in Chiapas state, includes migrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela and Haiti, among others.

In November, a smaller caravan spread out after the officials hundreds of migrants taken to local shelters.

Republicans have stepped up their attacks on Biden across the border, a potential vulnerability for the president as he seeks re-election next year. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott signed a law that gives law enforcement officials in his state the authority to arrest migrants who cross the border without permission. (El Paso County challenged the measure in federal court last week.) The president has also faced pressure from mayors in Democratic cities over the increase in migrants arriving in their cities.

Immigration has also become central to congressional discussions about aid to Ukraine and Israel. Republicans have refused to approve war aid without a new crackdown on the border.

The increase in the number of border crossings in recent weeks has forced border officials to do so railway crossings temporarily closed in El Paso and Eagle Pass, Texas, and to close the port of entry in Lukeville, Arizona. As the railroad crossings have reopened, Biden administration officials plan to speak with Mexican officials about the port closures, officials said in a statement.

Last week, Mr. López Obrador briefed reporters on a phone call with Mr. Biden in which they agreed that more enforcement at the border is needed.

“Now we have an extraordinary situation because the number of migrants passing through our country with the aim of reaching the United States has increased,” he said, adding that Mexico “was going to help, as we always do.”

Mr. López Obrador said he shared with Mr. Biden a goal of strengthening containment measures in southern Mexico so that migrants and asylum seekers do not reach the border.

The other necessary part, he said, is trying to address the root causes of migration and help resolve political disputes in the region.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials announced Friday that there were more than 190,000 apprehensions between ports of entry in November. U.S. officials said they “removed or returned” more than 400,000 people between May and the end of November.

“We face a serious challenge along the Southwest border and CBP and our federal partners need more resources from Congress – as outlined in the supplemental budget request – to improve border security and U.S. national security,” said Troy Miller , the acting leader of Congress. border agency, in a statement on Friday.