began with headlines about a migrant# crisis on the U.S. Southern border,## Border Patrol agents encountering a record# number of people entering the country,## a caravan heading toward the border, and American# cities struggling to keep up with asylum seekers.
As Stephanie Sy reports, it's with# that backdrop that President Biden## dispatched three top advisers to# Mexico in search of solutions.
STEPHANIE SY: Secretary of State Antony# Blinken arrived in Mexico City today,## greeted by U.S.
Ambassador Ken Salazar.# Blinken, along with Homeland Security## Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other# top U.S. officials, met with Mexico's## president on their second visit since# October to address the migrant crisis.
The U.S. is asking Lopez Obrador to make it harder# for migrants to move through Mexico and to do more## to stop migrants when they try to enter Mexico# from Guatemala.
In exchange, Mexico wants the U.S.## to commit more aid to the migrants' countries of# origin and ease sanctions on Venezuela and Cuba.
The talks come as record numbers of people try to# enter the U.S. from the Southern border.
At times## last week, Customs and Border Protection# stopped more than 10,000 people a day,## adding to the more than 240,000 migrants# that officials encountered in November.
The numbers have stretched Border Patrol# to its limits, with agents struggling to## process the influx, as thousands gathered# in Eagle Pass, Texas, in recent weeks.
U.S.## Customs and Border Protection closed other# ports of entry in Arizona and California## in the last month in order to redeploy# officers to help with migrant processing.
Underlining the pressure on U.S.# officials, a caravan of migrants## is steadily making its way to the border.
An# estimated 6,000 people from Central America,## Venezuela, Cuba, and elsewhere have# been waiting for months in Southern## Mexico.
On Christmas Eve, they began their# march northwards under the beating sun.
They make up the largest caravan in more than a## year.
Many young and exhausted families# are among the mass JOSE, Migrant From Honduras (through translator):# My daughter can't walk anymore.
I carry her in my## arms because she needs to rest.
She's only 3# years old.
A STEPHANIE SY: Rosa journeyed from El Salvador.
ROSA, Migrant From El Salvador (through# th eir hearts, because many of us are tired,# withou STEPHANIE SY: While U.S. leaders seek solutions# that would control those coming into the U.S.,## the migrants seek rest and compassion.
For a closer look at the situation the# Southern border, I'm joined by Elliot Spagat,## immigration reporter with the Associated Press.
Elliot, thanks so much for joining the "NewsHour."
What is the goal of the meeting# between top Biden admi officials today and the Mexican president?
ELLIOT SPAGAT, San Diego Correspondent, Associated# Pr public asks, but we can infer from what's# Th e numbers are astronomical.
They're# unprecedented, to use the word of the CBP acting## Commissioner Troy Miller, above 10,000 arrests# for illegal crossings on many days in December.## So they want to get a handle on the numbers.
And,# of course, this is not happening in a political## vacuum.
There's negotiations in Congress,# with aid to Ukraine hanging in the ba So I think the U.S. officials want to get a# little better handle on the numbers.
And to## give one specific example, the rail crossings# in Eagle Pass, Texas, and in Eagle -- El Paso## were closed for five days this month and caused# a lot of economic losses.
They're reopened.
But## what was happening there was, people were# coming up on the trains through Mexico.
And the U.S. wants Mexico# to do more to stop that.
So,## more enforcement is what I# think the U.S. is looking for.
STEPHANIE SY: You visited the Arizona side of the# border with Mexico recentl yourself about the situation and specifically# about the efficacy of the border wall?
ELLIOT SPAGAT: Yes, I was in Lukeville,# Arizona, which is one of the hot spots## right now.
About 3,000 people are# crossing a day in that general area,## much of it through Lukeville, which is a# border crossing that is closed right now## because of all the need to focus# resources on processing migrants.
It's the border crossing, a duty-free shop,# and a restaurant.
And there's really very few## agents around, but lots of people.
I saw# lots, probably more from Senegal than any## other country, lots from Ghana -- Guinea --# I'm sorry -- Mexico, of course, Guatemala.
And they're sawing through the walls, the# smugglers are, on the Mexican side.
They're## using construction-grade tools.
These# are columns that were built during the## final days of the Trump administration.
They# cut through and swing the columns back and## forth.
So people can just walk through,# young people, toddlers, older people.
It's very easy to get through.
And they# walk for hours looking for Border Patrol## agents who are nowhere to be found.
This could# probably be stopped by Border Patrol agents,## but they just don't have enough# there.
They're busy processing.
I did -- again, Commissioner Miller said he wants# Mexico to step more.
These are -- step up m There are these breaches, and there were hundreds# of them, that they had been welded shut, but the## dates were marked on when they had been fixed,# and hundreds of them over a 30-mile stretch.
And Commissioner Miller said, we# need Mexico to step up to do more,## to stop people from breaching these# wall -- the wall on the Mexican side.
STEPHANIE SY: You have been reporting on the# underlying causes of increased migration,## from climate change to poverty.# But you have also emphasized in## your recent reporting the role of# technology in smuggling operations.
I wonder if you would talk a# little bit more about what you## found out about how that contributes# to the increasing flow o ELLIOT SPAGAT: Yes.
very -- very few were crossing.
And then around# February, March of this year, they were crossing,## like, several thousand a month, most of# them going to Cincinnati or New York.
They fly -- about 4,000 Chinese are crossing# a month through San -- mostly through San## Diego.
And I mentioned the Senegalese, people from# Uzbekistan, Turkey, India, thousands from these## countries every month.
And the -- there needs# to be a lot more reporting, I think, on this.
But there are travel agencies that -- many# of them really are travel agencies.
And they## help -- they arrange flights and communicate# virtually over social media.
Every migrant has## a smartphone.
And so they use TikTok and Facebook# and YouTube and other apps to get instructions.
And so the smugglers are oftentimes not even# with them physically.
They aren't when they## cross the U.S. border.
They're just given# instructions, cross here, walking until see a Border Patrol agent.
So that is a -- and# that is a sea change from just a few STEPHANIE SY: How would you describe how## immigration politics have# shifted in the last ye ELLIOT SPAGAT: To the right, for sure.
One big development, of course, has been t countries to New York, Chicago, Denver, other# Democrat-run cities.
And so we're seeing now,## with the negotiations and Congress over this# -- it includes aid to Israel and Ukraine,## as well as border security measures,# it is a lot of Democrats saying,## like John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, even# Dick Durbin, who was the original champion## of the dreamer legislation, saying,# Chuck Schumer, we need to do something.
Of course, the progressive wing of the Democratic# Party is very much opposed to those changes.
They## want to keep the asylum system going.
And other# Republicans are split too.
So, we will see.
But I think, overall, there seems to# be a growing consensus that something## needs to be done and more on the enforcement side.
STEPHANIE SY: Elliot Spagat# with the Associated Press,## thanks so much for joining us with your insights.
ELLIOT SPAGAT: Thank you.
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