Mexican officials to resume border talks in Washington in January

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Thursday said border crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border would be reopened following talks earlier this week. American officials had closed several bridge and rail crossings in three states so that border agents could help process migrants elsewhere. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other Biden administration officials met with Mexican leaders Wednesday in Mexico City to encourage López Obrador to slow the flow of illegal immigrants to the countries’ shared border.  On Saturday, Mexico and Venezuela announced they would resume flights from Mexico to repatriate Venezuelan migrants.  The U.S. and Mexican delegations are set to continue border discussions in Washington in January.

How many migrants are at the border? U.S. Border Patrol agents have processed more illegal immigrants so far in December than in any month previously recorded, according to preliminary Department of Homeland Security statistics obtained by CBS and Fox News. Agents caught more than 225,000 migrants who crossed the border illegally during the first 27 days of December. The data does not include legal border crossings.

Dig deeper: Read Addie Offereins and Bethany Morawe’s report about immigrants rushing to the Arizona-Mexico border.