Mexico has rejected a claim by US President Donald Trump that it fosters illegal migration.
The Mexican foreign ministry issued a statement after Mr Trump lashed out at Mexico in a tirade triggered by images of a "caravan" of hundreds of migrants heading for the US border.
The foreign ministry said it is not up to Mexico to make migration decisions for the US government, which must determine whether it would allow any of the migrants from the "caravan" into the United States.
The "caravan" consists of at least 1,000 people crossing Mexico toward the United States in hopes of obtaining asylum or refugee status.
About 80% of the group is from Honduras, with the remainder from Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
By travelling together, the migrants hope to protect themselves from the crime and extortion that makes the route through Mexico toward the US border dangerous.
The "refugee caravan" was organised by the US-based immigration advocacy group Pueblo sin Fronteras, whose Spanish name means People Without Borders.
The migrants' immediate goal is to reach the central Mexican city of Puebla.
There, US and Mexican legal experts will counsel individual migrants and families and advise them on their options for seeking asylum or refugee status, either in Mexico or the United States.
Central American migrants are often fleeing brutal violence in their home countries, where gang warfare has led to some of the highest murder rates in the world.
