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.