President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will meet Wednesday with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra at the White House as the migrant crisis continues to escalate.
Other immigration advisers will also be present at the meeting, scheduled for 2 p.m. EST, the White House said in a notice.
The Biden administration’s undoing of former President Donald Trump’s border policies has prompted a flood of Central American and Mexican illegal migrants at the US border, including thousands of unescorted children.
Central Americans looking for refuge from the Northern Triangle countries — El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala — have taken these policy moves, as well as the overwhelmingly more welcoming tone from Democrats, as a sign that this president is inviting them to cross the border.
Joe Biden exits Marine One after it lands on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 23, 2021. Stefani Reynolds – Pool via CNPInsisting that the border was not facing a crisis, Mayorkas said earlier this month that the problems the agency faced should be blamed on the previous administration.
Migrants and asylum seekers seen after a demonstration at the San Ysidro crossing port asking US authorities to allow them to start their migration process in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, on March 23, 2021. GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty ImagesThe data, however, overwhelmingly shows that migrants were flooding the border because they believed Biden would welcome them with open arms.
A portion of the meeting is listed as being open to the press, though it is unclear how much access reporters will have or how many questions the commander-in-chief plans to take.
Asylum seekers from Honduras walk towards a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico on March 23, 2021 near Mission, Texas. John Moore/Getty ImagesWednesday’s White House gathering comes following days of meetings between top US officials for the region and Mexico and Guatemala.
The commander-in-chief is almost certain to be briefed on those meetings and what progress is being made in addressing the crisis.
U.S. Border Patrol agents take asylum seekers into custody as seen from a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter near the U.S.-Mexico Border on March 23, 2021. John Moore/Getty ImagesThe trip was led by White House southwest border coordinator Roberta Jacobson and joined by Juan Gonzalez, National Security Council senior director for the Western Hemisphere, and Ricardo Zuniga, the State Department’s newly appointed Northern Triangle special envoy.
Joe Biden listens during a virtual bilateral meeting with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico. Anna Moneymaker / Pool via CNP /The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for more details on the meeting, as well as whether the group intended to take questions from reporters.
