WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will meet with Central American leaders next week to hash out solutions to the migrant problem that has been plaguing America in recent weeks, according to a White House official.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest released a statement on Friday, announcing that the meeting will focus on ways to "promote safe, legal and orderly migration" between the countries.

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Earlier this month, Vice President Joseph Biden Jr. met with the Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and El Salvador leader Salvador Sanchez Ceren to discuss the flood of undocumented children crossing the southern border into the U.S.

The three leaders acknowledged the need to work closely with the U.S. to secure its borders.

The announcement comes at a time when Obama faces pressure from riled constituents as he struggles to gain Congress approval for a US$3.7 billion emergency fund to deal with the crisis.

While Republicans said they would approve the fund only if legislation were changed to fast-track the process of returning the immigrants to their homes, the Democratic Party argues against the amendment claiming that this would undermine the rights of the children.

And while Obama promised that children's rights to due process would be respected, he is committed to providing flexibility that would allow for an expedited legal process.

Obama hopes that the meeting with the three leaders will push Congress to pass the funding and legal changes that he wants. It is his way of showing Congress that he is "very serious about the issue" and that he is getting something done, according to a White House official.

As lawmakers are set to leave for a recess at the end of the month, it seems unlikely that the hugely divided Congress will pass Obama's request by then.

Meanwhile, White House spokesman Shawn Turner said that undocumented arrivals in the U.S. have been declining in recent weeks.

Some 1,985 children migrants were documented to have crossed the border in June. Two weeks later, the numbers dropped to 977. From July 13 to 15, the number again dropped to 362.

Officials said the average number of unaccompanied children crossing the border went down to 120 per day from 283 per day in June.

TagsChildren immigrants, US border problem, Joseph Biden, Otto Perez Molina, Juan Orlando Hernandez, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, Republican, Democrat, republicans versus democrats