Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a dozen Democrats are traveling this week to Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, where living conditions are prompting hundreds of thousands of people to seek asylum in the United States.

The California Democrat said in a statement that the group will then travel to McAllen, Texas to "demand that conditions are improved to reflect American values and to respect the dignity of every person.”

Most of the more than 600,000 illegal immigrants apprehended at the southern border since October are from the three Northern Triangle countries.

Democrats want the United States to provide more federal aid to the countries to help improve conditions.

The House, last month, passed legislation to provide $577 million to the countries in 2020 for economic development and to combat corruption and crime.

Those traveling in the delegation are staunch advocates for the asylum seekers, including Reps. Lucille Roybal-Allard and Norma Torres, of California and Henry Cuellar, of Texas, whose district is on the border.

“As our high-powered delegation begins our visit to the Northern Triangle, we look forward to strengthening our partnership to enhance regional security and stability, create greater economic opportunity, combat corruption and advance human rights to make it safer for people to thrive in their communities,” Pelosi said.

“In our meetings with representatives from government, the judiciary, civil society, community and faith-based groups, the private sector and human rights organizations, we will renew our commitment to advancing our shared interests and to helping empower the people of the Northern Triangle to build a better future at home.”