Kamala Harris will travel to Mexico and Guatemala to try to stop the arrival of migrants

By Lauren Egan - NBC News

Vice President Kamala Harris said Wednesday that she plans to travel to 

Mexico and Guatemala

as part of her mission to lead the White House's efforts to address the structural causes of migration to the United States.

"Our focus is treating root causes, and I'm looking forward to traveling, hopefully as my first trip to the Northern Triangle, stopping in Mexico and then going to Guatemala," Harris said, before a meeting with experts in this region.

"We have plans to go to Guatemala as soon as possible," he

emphasized.

President Joe Biden tasked Harris in March with leading the Administration's diplomatic efforts in the Northern Triangle countries - Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras - as part of an effort to help curb migration amid a number of record number of children arriving at the US border seeking asylum.

This diplomatic function is Harris's first major political assignment.

The White House has been forced to clarify the scope of Harris's portfolio in recent weeks, stating repeatedly that his assignment does not include directly addressing the southern border.

The clarification has come at a time when Republicans have tried to criticize the Administration's handling of migrants at the border, including hundreds of children.

When asked by reporters Wednesday if he would visit the southern border, Harris suggested that was not part of his travel plans.

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"So, as I mentioned to the experts, the president has asked [Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro] Mayorkas to take care of what is happening at the border," Harris responded.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the format for Harris' trip had yet to be finalized.

[The number of migrant children who crossed the southern US border alone doubled in March to nearly 19,000]

Harris has held a series of internal meetings on the Northern Triangle in recent weeks, according to his collaborators.

In addition to Wednesday's meeting, Harris met with Cabinet members, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Attorney General Merrick Garland, Tuesday to discuss migration challenges.

He has held calls with foreign officials, including the presidents of Mexico and Guatemala.

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Harris also helped reach agreements this week with the governments of Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala to improve law enforcement at their borders and help stem the flow of migrants traveling to the United States.

AMLO will visit the border of Mexico with Guatemala

The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also said Wednesday that he plans to visit the southern border of his country to discuss with governors and mayors about how to stop the smuggling of migrant children.

"To take care of children we are going to reinforce vigilance, protection, care on our southern border because it is to defend human rights," he said in his daily press conference.

López Obrador showed photos of a truck with a trailer detained Tuesday in the southern city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez that was transporting 149 migrants, including 28 minors, from Honduras and Guatemala.

With information from AP.