The Biden administration will expand areas where migrants can apply online for appointments to enter the United States to a large swath of southern Mexico, officials said Saturday, potentially easing strains on the Mexican government and lessening dangers for people trying to reach the U.S. border to claim asylum. Migrants will be able to schedule appointments on the CBP One app from the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, extending the zone from northern and central Mexico, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. The move satisfies a request of Mexico, an increasingly close partner of the U.S. in efforts to control extraordinary migration flows. The change will spare migrants from traveling north through Mexico to get one of 1,450 appointments made available daily, CBP said. The agency said it will happen soon but did not give a date. “We consistently engage with our partners in the Government of Mexico and work together to adjust policies and practices in response to the latest migration trends and security needs,” CBP said in a statement. The statement confirmed remarks a day earlier by Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Bárcena, who said closer relations with the United States cut migration sharply from late last year. U.S. officials have said increased Mexican enforcement is largely responsible for a sharp drop in U.S. arrests for illegal border crossings during the first half of this year. Mexican officials have stepped up their presence at highway checkpoints and on railroads leading to the U.S. border, returning most to southern Mexico.