Mexico's top immigration official said Monday the country will not order the militarization of the border with Guatemala as caravans of residents from Central American countries make their way north.

Interior Secretary Olga Sánchez Cordero said Mexico will regulate and provide security to migrants from Central America, El Universal newspaper reported.

She added that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's government is "not repressive" and won't militarize its southern border "under any circumstances."

Sánchez Cordero's comments follow López Obrador's vow to respond with "peace and love" to U.S. threats to close the U.S.-Mexico border.

President Trump vowed in recent days to shut down the southern border – the world's busiest commercial frontier – over a surge in Central American families and unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in the United States that has overwhelmed U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Trump on Saturday said Mexico should "use its very strong immigration laws to stop the many thousands of people trying to get into the USA."

A top Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official said Friday the United States is in negotiations with the López Obrador administration to find ways for Mexico to stop caravans in its territory.

"Mexico has a variety of things they can do to increase enforcement," said the senior official, adding that DHS is in negotiations with the Mexican government to limit transit of Central American humanitarian visa recipients to the southern states of Oaxaca, Chiapas and Tabasco.

Sánchez Cordero said Mexico would work with its neighbors to address regional migration, adding that it's a shared responsibility with the United States and Central American countries.

"We are very conscious that migration has to change, be regulated and safer, and they'll also have to do their part," she said.

https://thehill.com/latino/436817-mexico-wont-block-caravans-from-entering-through-guatemala-top-official-says