The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says the situation is a test for the enforcement of Mexico’s asylum laws
Mexican federal police have found about 600 migrants travelling in trucks bound for the US hidden in two commercial vehicles.
Agents discovered the group about 100km from the border state of Veracruz on Wednesday.
There is a bottleneck at Tijuana on the US-Mexico border and officials said they were sending a team to reinforce border security at its southernmost tip.
The group is said to be members of the Central American migrant caravan.
The officials said the two trucks were heading from central Mexico to the border city of Ciudad Juarez in central Mexico.
The migrant group was hidden in the cargo area, and the investigation is expected to take several weeks.
“We are seeking to accelerate the rescue operation of all the migrants that have been involved in this incident,” said Veracruz state public security secretary Ricardo Flores.
Many of the group were reported to be members of the migrant caravan that set off from Honduras in October, travelling north through Mexico and joining another convoy heading for the US.
In July, a group of about 1,500 Central American migrants were found at the Guatemalan border crossing and an additional group of about 2,300 others was discovered in the Mexican city of Matamoros on the US border in October.
The main group was led by Luis Alfonso Araujo, who was deported.
Fearing that violent clashes with US authorities may erupt if they tried to reach the US, the migrants eventually started to disperse on their own.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says the situation is a test for the enforcement of Mexico’s asylum laws.
The UNHCR also said that no migrants who were in Veracruz were registered with the Mexican government, which means those who were allowed to stay legally in the country may be subject to deportation if they tried to move north again.