March 22, 2021, 11:37 a.m.

CNN

Posted: Mar 22, 2021 11:37 am

CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO – MARCH 17: Undocumented immigrants walk along the border wall between the United States and Mexico after walking across the flat Rio Grande to El Paso on March 17, 2021 in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. US immigration officials are facing a surge in immigration along the southwestern border with Mexico. (Photo by John Moore / Getty Images)

(CNN) – Senior government officials from Biden will travel to Mexico on Monday to speak with government officials about managing migration Increase in unaccompanied minors Crossing the US-Mexico border.

The NSC spokeswoman Emily Horne said Roberta Jacobson, the Biden government coordinator for the southern border, and Juan Gonzalez, the senior director of the National Security Council for the western hemisphere, will be making the trip.

The two are joined by the Foreign Ministry’s Special Representative for the Northern Triangle, Ricardo Zúñiga. Zúñiga is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and his appointment as special envoy was announced by the State Department on Monday.

Gonzalez and Zuniga will then travel to Guatemala, where, according to senior administrators, they will meet with President Alejandro Giammattei, Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo and others.

“This is an important journey that builds on the government’s focused work to address the root causes of irregular migration as a cyclical regional problem that does not begin or end on the southern United States border,” said a senior civil servant.

Officials plan to discuss managing migration with government officials in the short term, but also to consider longer term plans to address the root causes of migration and ways to expand economic opportunities, the officials said.

The trip comes when the Biden government races to accommodate an increase in unaccompanied minors arriving at the border, which has overwhelmed and strained state resources. Administration officials said Thursday that the federal government has more than 14,000 migrant children in its care.

“We work around the clock around the clock,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, Minister of Homeland Security, opposite Dana Bash from CNN to “State of the Union” on Sunday.

Mayorkas declined on Sunday to come up with a schedule for opening new facilities to handle the surge, but said it was “as soon as possible”.

He said the coronavirus pandemic made government efforts difficult in part and also blamed the Trump administration’s policies for dismantling the immigration system.

President Joe Biden on Sunday he said he would “someday” travel to the border himself.

“I know what’s going on at these facilities,” Biden told reporters.

More than 800 unaccompanied migrant children have been detained for more than 10 days, according to CNN.

According to federal law, unaccompanied children must be handed over within 72 hours to the Ministry of Health and Human Services, which oversees a protection net for minors. However, due to the restrictions associated with the pandemic, children will remain in prison for more than 72 years. Hour limit.