MEXICO CITY, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Mexico plans to regulate the entry of hundreds of undocumented migrants expected at its southern border, an official source said on Wednesday.
Authorities are planning a procedure to register the entry of women and children as one group, and adult males as another, said Tonatiuh Guillen, the head of Mexico's National Immigration Institute (INM), in a radio interview.
The idea is to ensure migrants heading to the U.S.-Mexico border enter in a safe and orderly way, he said.
They will also be given humanitarian aid and orientation about the possibility of finding work in south Mexico and other options to pursuing asylum in the United States, said Guillen.
"Those who are ... interested and willing to get closer to Mexico from an employment perspective, can do so almost immediately," he said.
The latest caravan of migrants set out from northern Honduras Monday night, and currently numbers about 1,000, according to media reports.
Officials expect the caravan to arrive at the Suchiate border crossing bridge linking Mexico's southern state of Chiapas and Guatemala.
Guillen acknowledged the migrants were motivated by a desire to build a better life, but said they were misinformed and under the impression that the United States would offer them a safe haven, which is not the case.
U.S. President Donald Trump has stepped up security at the border and made it harder to apply for asylum. A dispute over congressional funds for Trump's border wall has led to the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history.
"These caravans are organized structures ... there are people behind them, some very obvious, others less clear, but there's no doubt that they are structured events. The matter there is to see what interests are behind these mobilizations," said Guillen.
