American President Joe Biden and his Mexican counterpart Andrés Manuel López Obrador want to work together to curb migration from South and Central America and the Caribbean.

In a video link lasting about 50 minutes on Friday, both presidents reaffirmed the need to “develop stronger instruments to deal with regional migration flows,” the White House said after the conversation.

Such efforts should be "fair, humane and effective."

Biden's spokeswoman Jen Psaki spoke of a "constructive discussion" between the two sides.

Unlike his predecessor Donald Trump, Biden "did not in any way threaten" the Mexican president.

According to a US administration official, the White House has been working "very hard" for a year to improve bilateral relations with the southern neighbor.

7,800 migrants daily at the south-west border

With a view to the midterm congressional elections in November, mass immigration across Mexico's border is also weighing on Biden's government and his Democratic Party.

In the past three weeks, US border guards have registered 7,800 undocumented migrants a day at the southwest border – almost five times the average for the years 2014 to 2019 and thus before the outbreak of the corona pandemic.

Instead of relying on border walls and threats like Trump, Biden believes that only a cooperative approach can be successful in the long term.

His government also points to the economic, security and climatic pressures that drive people from poorer countries to the United States.

After the virtual meeting, López Obrador announced on Twitter that his Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard would travel to Washington on Monday "to discuss development cooperation issues" and the America Summit, which will bring together the countries of the American continent in Los Angeles in June target.

For his part, the Mexican President will visit Central America and Cuba from May 5th to 9th.

Stations are also Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, from where most migrants leave for the USA.

For López Obrador, who has hardly traveled abroad since taking office at the end of 2018, the trip is an unusual step.