GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden’s special envoy to a group of Central American countries began a two-nation tour aimed at addressing soaring migration by meeting Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on Monday afternoon. Ricardo Zuñiga’s visit to the so-called Northern Triangle countries comes as the number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border leapt last month, adding urgency to Biden’s push to revamp U.S. border policy while trying to manage people flows. Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras constitute the Northern Triangle, a region which in recent years has provided the bulk of U.S.-bound migrants. The Guatemalan government did not divulge details of the initial meetings with Zuñiga’s delegation on Monday, saying only in a statement that further talks focusing on economic development, security and immigration would be held on Tuesday. Shortly beforehand, several Guatemalan cabinet ministers issued a statement urging Giammattei to dismiss the head of Guatemala’s migration institute, Guillermo Diaz, alleging Diaz had acted in a manner contrary to the interests of his post. Guatemalan media quoted one of the ministers as saying their recommendation was based on anomalies detected at the institute on Diaz’s watch, which included hiring decisions. A spokeswoman for the institute said Diaz had not been notified of any accusations and was still in his job. Zuñiga will also visit El Salvador later this week, the White House said. While he is not scheduled to visit Honduras on the trip, Zuñiga did discuss migration “in a comprehensive fashion” with Honduran Foreign Minister Lisandro Rosales last Friday, according to a statement from the ministry on Monday. Further talks between Honduran officials and Zuñiga are expected to continue on April 9 in Washington. U.S. authorities caught more than 171,000 migrants along the U.S.-Mexico in March, the highest monthly total in two decades and the latest sign of the mounting humanitarian challenge confronting Biden’s administration.