Nearly 8,000-strong migrant caravan heads toward the US, Blinken urges Mexico help end 'irregular migration'

White House has pushed back on the record-high levels of immigration by describing current figures as 'not unusual'

A migrant caravan numbering thousands of people from Central and SoThe caravan, which is estimated to include 8,000 migrants, comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a senior U.S. delegation are meeting with Mexican officials, including Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to discuss the current0 migrant surge at the U.S.-Mexico border.

On the social media platform X, Blinken said both sides discussed ways to discuss the "irregular migration."uth America is making its way through southern Mexico this week en route to the U.S.

Blinken’s description of "irregular migration" matches other language used by the State Department but appears to clash with the messaging from President Biden and the White House.

On Friday, the State Department first announced Blinken would be traveling to Mexico with Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and White House Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall to discuss "unprecedented irregular migration" as well as "identify ways Mexico and the United States will address border security challenges."

However, the White House has downplayed the record-high levels of immigration by describing current figures — as many as 10,000 migrants arrested daily at the southwest U.S. border this month — as a seasonal surge...more