Mexico will not use its military to stop Central American migrant caravans from passing through en route to the United States and will instead offer support and security along the way, an official confirmed.

The Hill cited a Spanish-language article, which quoted Mexico's Interior Secretary Olga Sánchez Cordero as saying no militarization of the border will take place.

The government under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is "not repressive," Sánchez Cordero said, adding that the country will not put the military along the border to stop migrants from Guatemala and other nearby nations from entering "under any circumstances."

Sánchez Cordero later added that solving the immigration problem facing the United States, Mexico, and Central America requires cooperation from all parties involved.

"We are very conscious that migration has to change, be regulated, and safer, and they'll also have to do their part," she said.

Sánchez Cordero said last week that a caravan of migrants currently underway could eventually grow to 20,000 people.

Over the weekend, the Trump administration cut aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras in response to the multiple migrant caravans that have departed those poverty-stricken countries in recent years, all with goals of reaching the U.S.

President Donald Trump has even threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico this week because of a recent increase in illegal crossings and detentions.

(Adds U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman's invitation and comment from Mexico's Ambassador to the United States)

\exico will help to regulate the flow of Central American migrants passing through its territory to the United States, but the root causes behind the phenomenon must be tackled, President Lopez Obrador said on Monday. Lopez Obrador said he would not have a confrontation with the United States.

"I prefer love and peace," Lopez Obrador told reporters at his regular morning news conference.

The leftist president has consistently refused to get drawn into a war of words with Trump over the border.

A senior Mexican trade official warned later that closing down the U.S.-Mexico border would cause pain on "both sides."

Most of the people caught at the frontier trying to enter the United States illegally come from three violent and impoverished countries: Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Lopez Obrador has tried to persuade Trump to address the problem by fostering economic development in Central America. But on Saturday the U.S. State Department said it was cutting off aid to those three countries.

Detentions at the U.S. border have surged in recent months, angering Trump and putting pressure on Lopez Obrador to find a solution that will prevent a shutdown of the frontier to the market for 80 percent of Mexico's exports.

Asked if it was time to put pressure on the Central American countries to do more to tackle the problem, Lopez Obrador said the causes of migration were "not being attended to" and that people needed to be offered more opportunities there.

"Obviously, we have to help because Central American migrants pass through our territory and we have to bring order to this migration, make sure it's legal," he said.

"That's what we're doing. But serenely, calmly, without a commotion and with great prudence and responsibility."

Mexico began issuing temporary humanitarian visas to some members of a migrant caravan in southern Mexico, giving priority to children and the elderly, the National Migration Institute said Monday. It said it would provide transport back to Central American countries, Cuba and Haiti, on a voluntary basis.

Earlier this year, Mexico handed out humanitarian visas liberally, but reined in the program after a surge in applications. The institute said from next month it was planning to encourage people to apply for visas in their home countries.

It was not immediately clear if the government was limiting the number of visas it issues.

Reuters contributed to this report.