Obama meets Central American leaders

President Barack Obama is to meet Central American leaders to discuss the plight of the undocumented migrant children flooding across the US border.

The presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador will meet at the White House on Friday.

They are expected to explore a potential programme that would give refugee status to youth from Honduras.

More than 50,000 unaccompanied children have been detained trying to cross the southern US border since October.

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"We expect that the solution to this problem also is equal for the three countries," Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina said on Thursday of immigration discussions.

'Blank cheque'

Mr Molina will be joined by Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and El Salvador President Salvador Sanchez Ceren in the talks.

On the agenda is an initiative in Honduras, which may involve screening children there to determine if they are eligible for refugee status in the US.

Depending on its success, the programme may expand to other Central American nations.

It is the latest immigration effort embarked upon by the Obama administration, which requested $3.7bn (£2.2bn) in emergency spending earlier this month to combat the crisis.

The emergency funding request included money for the hiring of extra immigration judges, drone surveillance of the border, medical services and transportation costs, and expanding a border security task force in Central America.

Where the $3.7bn would go

$1.8bn to provide the appropriate care for unaccompanied children
$1.1bn on detention and removal programmes
$433m on border patrol and security
$300m to Central American countries to repatriate and tackle root causes
$64m on immigration courts, including hiring 40 additional judge teams

Source: White House

But Republican lawmakers said they would not give Mr Obama a "blank cheque" to combat the immigration crisis without additional policy changes.

Instead House Republicans are developing an immigration proposal not to exceed $1.5bn, while Senate Democrats are floating one for $3.6bn to meet increased immigration and security needs.

The migrants - mostly from Central America - are believed to be driven north by a spike in gang violence in their home countries and incorrect rumours children will be allowed to stay if they make it across the border.

Also at issue is a 2008 law that grants unaccompanied children from countries that do not border the US an automatic asylum hearing, thereby preventing their immediate removal from the country.

Republicans have blamed Mr Obama's immigration policy for the crisis, and some in the Congress have called for the repeal of the 2008 asylum law.

Meanwhile, the US president has harshly criticised House Republicans for not holding a vote on an broad immigration bill passed by the Democratic-led Senate last year.

The Central American leaders met members of Congress on Capitol Hill on Thursday as they continue to consider Mr Obama's request for additional funds and authority at the border.