US-Mexico border: Top delegation set for talks on migration

US President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador have discussed ongoing "efforts to manage migratory flows" at the border between their countries.

During the phone call Thursday, both agreed that urgent action is needed.

The White House said a high-ranking US delegation would visit Mexico soon to discuss how immigration rules can be enforced at the border.

Which US officials will visit Mexico?

The visit by the top US officials to Mexico comes after Washington closed two rail crossings on the Mexico-Texas border this week to limit illegal entries on freight trains.

Business owners in Mexico have warned that the closures are affecting trade. The Mexican Employers' Association described the move as a "failure of migration policy."

Both Biden and Lopez Obrador on Thursday agreed that more enforcement is needed at the border so that the crossings can be reopened, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and US Homeland Security adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall are among the US delegation expected to visit Mexico in the week after Christmas.

The US delegation will meet Lopez Obrador and his team in Mexico to discuss how to address the issue of illegal immigration and border enforcement.

"Their visit will really be about getting at the migratory flows and talking to President Lopez Obrador and his team about what more we can do together," Kirby said at a White House briefing.

Meanwhile, Republicans have continued to press Biden's Democrats to introduce major changes to the immigration policy in exchange for approving a package of emergency assistance for Ukraine and Israel.

mfi/rc (AFP, AP, Reuters)