MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th October, 2018) Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced the launch of a program of support for Central American migrants as a large caravan of people seeking to resettle in the United States is moving through the Mexican territory.
"Today, we are launching the 'You Are at Home' program for migrants from Central America who have arrived in Mexico. The plan gives them access to temporary employment programs, medical care and schools for children," Pena Nieto wrote on Twitter on Friday.
Signing up for the program would be available in the Chiapas and Oaxaca states for those who had applied for asylum in Mexico, the president added. Pena Nieto noted that those willing to participate in the support program should receive a legal status in his country.
The United Nations has said there were around 7,000 people in the migrant caravan. The Mexican law enforcement said on Thursday that the movement included 3,630 people since around 1,750 migrants had asked for asylum in Mexico and 116 people had decided to return to their home countries.
The US authorities have reacted to the approaching migrant caravan by announcing plans to bar the migrants from crossing the US border. US President Donald Trump has accused Mexico of failing to stop the caravan and suggested there were criminals among the members of the movement, something denied by Mexico.
On Friday, the Pentagon chief, James Mattis, approved the deployment of US troops to the Mexican border to help the Border Patrol erect temporary barriers and plan blocking the migrants from entering the United States.
