The White House asks Congress for $4 billion in aid for countries in Central America to address root causes of illegal migration, as the number of border crossings into the U.S. spikes.

Transcript

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

The Biden administration is trying to deal with a crisis - a crisis unfolding right now at the southern border - while simultaneously addressing the deep problems in Central America that are causing people to flee to the U.S. Today, border patrol officials announced a nearly 30% increase in border crossings over the last four weeks. The number of unaccompanied children stopped at the border has reportedly tripled in the last couple of weeks. White House coordinator for the southern border repeated this message today.

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ROBERTA JACOBSON: The border is not open.

KELLY: That's Ambassador Roberta Jacobson announcing a new effort to slow down illegal migration and develop new legal paths to come to the U.S. Here with more is NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez.

Hey, Franco.

FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Hey, Mary Louise.

KELLY: So this, it goes without saying, is a huge issue, a complicated issue. But that message - the border is not open - is pretty unambiguous. What are the new plans to address the migration crisis?

ORDOÑEZ: Well, there are basically two parts. First, as you noted, is developing more legal ways to come to the United States. One example that they announced today is that the administration is restarting a program called the Central Americans Minors Program, and that program reunites children with parents who are in the United States legally. Ambassador Jacobson actually said that when the Trump administration ended that program, there were around 3,000 children approved for travel who were left stranded.

Another way is fighting the push factors that lead migrants to leave countries like El Salvador and Honduras and Guatemala. Jacobson said they are seeking $4 billion in U.S. aid to fight poverty, inequality and climate change. But one key thing is they said the money is not going to go to government leaders but civil society groups that work on the issues. She said the administration wants explicit commitments from the government leaders that they are going to fight corruption as part of this effort.

KELLY: Now, I know during this White House briefing today, Ambassador Jacobson was asked pointedly, is the administration sending conflicting messages, you know, on the one hand saying, hey, don't come, on the other hand, promoting these more humane policies? How did she answer that?

ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. Jacobson acknowledged that the messages were mixed, but she said they're trying to do multiple things at the same time. Here's how she put it.

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JACOBSON: It is difficult at times to convey both hope in the future and the danger that is now. And that is what we're trying to do, and I will certainly agree that we are trying to walk and chew gum at the same time.

ORDOÑEZ: She said they will have legal processes for people in the future. But she repeated that the border was not open, even saying it in Spanish several times to make sure people back home in the region heard it. The White House has been under a lot of pressure to send that message. Republicans are accusing Biden of downplaying a crisis, and the Texas governor said he's even going to send National Guard troops to the border.

KELLY: But to circle back beyond the messaging to the actual plan, how does the White House plan to address? How would they actually solve what, as we noted, is this very urgent, real situation unfolding at the border right now?

ORDOÑEZ: It is a real situation. President Biden was briefed on that situation today. I spoke to Theresa Cardinal Brown, who was a senior adviser for both Bush and Obama. She told me there are a host of issues of why people migrate and when.

THERESA CARDINAL BROWN: You can't just look at immigration as either push or pull factors and which is more important. The answer is it's all part of a decision that a migrant makes. They have agency. They go on the information they have in their own situation and their hopes and dreams.

ORDOÑEZ: But, Mary Louise, she emphasized that the first decision people make is, I have to leave my home country. And that is what these efforts are trying to tackle.

KELLY: NPR's Franco Ordoñez - thank you, Franco.

ORDOÑEZ: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.