MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – The United States must invest more in Central America if they want to reduce the record-breaking northbound migration levels, Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s Foreign Minister said Wednesday.

This year, records numbers of immigrants have made their way to the United States from Mexico. The reason is economic downturns resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also driven by the hopes of U.S. President Joe Biden having more open immigration policies.

Biden pledged to address the root causes of Central American migration by working with poverty and violence to end corruption.

When asked by Mexican radio about Mexico’s potential role as a border for migrants, Ebrard stated that the United States needed to invest more in Central America.

Ebrard stated, “Without the investment, if America does not support Central America. It’s very difficult for us to imagine that the current migration flows will diminish.”

Biden wrote to Andres Manuel Obrador in which he noted that more than $600 million was spent on foreign aid in recent years to Mexico’s Northern Triangle nations of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Honduras.

Biden also requested an additional $861million from Congress in order to help Central America during the U.S. fiscal year 2022.