Biden and Mexico’s President AMLO agree to ramp up ‘enforcement’ in crisis talks as border reaches breaking point with more than 10,000 migrants crossing each day as White House admits ‘there’s probably more we can be doing’

President Joe Biden held an urgent phone call with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday to discuss the ongoing border crisis as migrants overwhelm facilities along the southern border and break daily records.

The president is sending top administration officials to Mexico City to work with the Mexican president on new ways to tackle the issue, as White House national security spokesman John Kirby spoke of the persistent nature of the problem.

“There's probably more we can do,” Kirby admitted to reporters at the White House as he described the contours of the conversation.

He said the two men discussed efforts to “manage unprecedented migration flows in the Western Hemisphere,” describing the issue as part of a global problem, not just one affecting the US.

“The two leaders agreed that additional enforcement actions are urgently needed to ensure ports of entry across our shared border can reopen,” Kirby said.

The conversation was “really about the flow of migration and the pressure that's being put on the southern border,” Kirby said.

His comments come after another week in which lawmakers negotiating a package that would give Ukraine $61 billion failed to reach a breakthrough on border changes that Republicans are demanding.

Biden will briefly pull the country's top diplomat from his hectic portfolio dealing with Israel's war against Hamas and other global challenges to tackle the border.

Top US officials – including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and US Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall – will travel to Mexico in the coming days to meet with Lopez Obrador. They will discuss “further actions that can be taken together to address current border issues.”

The visit will focus on efforts to stem migration flows and how the two countries can work together, Kirby said, adding later that leaders had discussed what could be done from Mexico to slow the process .

A record 14,000 migrants have entered Eagle Pass at the southern border since Sunday evening, according to Customs and Border Patrol figures, overwhelming authorities tasked with processing them.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson sent a letter to Biden urging him to use executive power to stem the flow of migrants at the southern border.

The speaker instructed the president to end “catch-and-release,” under which migrants found between ports of entry must be turned away and only be used on a “case-by-case basis” conditional release.

He also called on the president to reinstate Trump-era policies such as building the wall, reinstating the Remain in Mexico program and expanding expedited removal for those who cannot prove eligibility for asylum.

Johnson even urged Biden to suspend all immigration — using his authority under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This provision allows the president to indefinitely suspend the entry of foreign citizens if admitting them is deemed “detrimental” to U.S. interests.

Dozens of major U.S. agricultural groups urged the U.S. on Wednesday to reopen two railroad crossings on the Texas-Mexico border to restore trade routes closed due to the increasing number of migrant crossings.

The White House said at the time that it was working with Mexico to resolve the issues that led to the closures.

That move followed a temporary suspension of migrant deportations by Mexican immigration authorities due to a year-end funding crisis, officials said.

Lopez Obrador told a news conference that Biden had requested the call.

Biden, who is seeking re-election next year, is under continued political pressure to halt record arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border.