MEXICO CITY (AP) - The Mexican government says it is busing migrants who have applied for asylum in the United States to southern Mexico.

About 30,000 migrants have been sent back to northern Mexican border cities to await U.S. asylum hearings under a policy known as "Remain in Mexico." They have to wait for hearings months away, but few provisions have been made for them and many border cities are dangerous.

Mexico's National Immigration Institute said Friday it is busing migrants from the border cities of Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros to southern Chiapas state. It said the goal is "to provide a safer alternative for those who do not want to remain on the U.S.-Mexico border."

It is unclear how the migrants will be able to return to the border for their hearings.

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