The Mexican ambassador to the United States said that they had reason to believe that the migrant caravan from Honduras heading toward the U.S. border was not the result of a grassroots effort, but was "politically motivated."

'They're frequently tricked...'

Ambassador Geronimo Gutierrez made the comments to Fox News' Bret Baier in an interview that aired Thursday.

"Mexico also issued a very clear statement saying if somebody is seeking asylum, Mexico is there along now with the U.N. to look at those claims, we want to make sure those claims are legitimate," Gutierrez said.

"In other words before they make the trek across Mexico?" Baier asked.

"It's not in the interest of anybody to have those people make that trip," Gutierrez continued. "They're frequently tricked by human smuggling organizations.

"We have evidence that this caravan is also very much politically motivated," Gutierrez added. "We're obviously sensitive to the humanitarian situation that we encounter, and we're acting precisely.

"But we have also made very clear that there's no legal ground on which Mexico can issue a permit by which people can just go through Mexico toward the United States," he concluded.

Here's the video of Ambassador Gutierrez's comments:

Where is the caravan now?

The caravan of migrants from Honduras began its long trek to the U.S. border on Saturday with about 1,000 participants. Reports say it has swelled to 4,000 migrants as it crossed from Honduras into Guatemala.

President Donald Trump has demanded that Honduras and Mexico do something to stop the caravan, and has threatened to cut aid to Honduras if they didn't comply.

Honduras detained and deported a leader of the caravan, while Mexico has sent riot police to their border with Guatemala in compliance with the president's demands.