They find 600 migrants hiding in two trailers in Mexico

Mexico: 600 migrants found hidden in trucks 0:49

(CNN) -

Mexican authorities reported the discovery on Friday of some 600 migrants hiding in two trailers traveling through the state of Veracruz, according to the country's National Migration Institute (INM).

In a statement, the immigration agency said they discovered 145 women and 455 men in closed wagons heading north toward the US border.

Most of the migrants, some 400 people, come from Guatemala, while a significant number of them also come from Honduras, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Bangladesh.

In total, twelve countries are represented in the profiles of migrants: El Salvador, Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, Ghana, India and Cameroon constitute the rest.

We want work, says migrant in Mexico heading to the US 2:11

The INM said it had started prosecuting people and would inform child protection agencies in cases of unaccompanied minors and families, and then decide whether to send them back to their home countries or give them the opportunity to stay in Mexico through a regularization procedure.

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Migrants to the United States

In July, US Customs and Border Protection detained 212,672 people attempting to cross the US-Mexico border, the highest number of arrests at the border in two decades.

Between October 2020 and June 2021, more than one million migrants were detained at the border.

The crisis has prompted the US to broadcast radio spots in Central America to try to dissuade people from emigrating.

In fiscal year 2021, there were 557 deaths recorded by the U.S. Border Patrol, the highest number since records began and a significant increase from 254 deaths in 2020.

Central American countries and Latin America

Migration is very common from Central American countries like Honduras, where storms, violence, corruption, food insecurity, and lack of economic opportunities have left many with no other option.

Elsewhere in Latin America, the repression of immigration policies, accompanied by an exodus of Venezuelans and large numbers of Haitians moving across the continent, have caused a migration crisis in the region.

• Migration to the US has changed: "Now you see more women, children and mass caravans," says expert

As of mid-2020, international migrants accounted for 2.6% of the entire South American population, a significant increase from the less than 1% recorded in 2015, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

CNN's Daniela Mohor W. and Jeevan Ravindran contributed to this report.

Migrants