Bus full of migrants help mother give birth before being detained in Mexico

‘We helped the lady and told her to push so (the baby) would come out’

Bus of migrants help mother give birth before being detained in Mexico (via REUTERS)

A bus full of migrants helped a woman deliver a baby before all of them were detained at a checkpoint in southeastern Mexico on Monday.

The pregnant woman was one of the 141 migrants, mostly Guatemalans, found on the bus in the Gulf state of Veracruz. The group also included 26 unaccompanied minors, according to a statement by the National Migration Institute (INM).

The mother and the newborn were reportedly taken to a hospital after being detained.

"(The woman) gave birth with the help of those that traveled with her, who cut the umbilical cord," the INM said, according to Reuters.

"We helped the lady and told her to push so (the baby) would come out," one of the men detained said in a video shared by the agency. "Then we gave our sweaters... She kept asking about the baby. You could see she was scared."

The agency released images that showed the mother holding her newborn in a thick purple blanket and a surgical cover.

The journey through Mexico to the US has become increasingly perilous for migrants. On Monday, another 130 Guatemalan migrants had been detained in a truck in the same state, where 19 of them were unaccompanied minors.

US Customs and Border Protection in recent years has grappled with record crossings, and in the wake of Title 42's expiration has said it is prioritising migrants with appointments to streamline processing.

Washington has encouraged migrants to use legal pathways to seek entry, including using an app called CBP One to schedule appointments at the border to request asylum.

More than 50 migrants died last year in a truck in Texas in the worst human smuggling tragedy in recent US history.

Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has promised to finish building the southern border wall as part of an aggressive immigration policy proposal he laid out Monday in a Texas border city.

“For decades, leaders from both parties have produced empty promises on border security, and now it is time to act to stop the invasion once and for all," Mr DeSantis said in a statement.

"As president, I will declare a national emergency on Day One and will not rest until we build the wall, shut down illegal entry, and win the war against the drug cartels. No excuses. We will get it done.”