MEXICO CITY: Mexican lawmakers on Friday unanimously approved a law to "strengthen the protection and security" of migrants, whatever their status, amid widespread abuse against undocumented migrants.
The law will allow migrants to "access health, education and justice services and recognizes their legal status, independently of their migratory situation," said the text from the lower house of Congress.
It also states that the detention period for undocumented migrants cannot exceed 36 hours.
Rights groups have strongly criticized Mexico for failing to protect tens of thousands of migrants, mainly from Central America, who risk their lives trying to cross the vast country to illegally enter the United States each year.
They face kidnapping, rape and murder, sometimes with the aid of public officials, rights group Amnesty International warned last year.
A string of mass kidnappings of migrants and the gruesome discovery of 72 murdered migrants from Central and South America in northeastern Tamaulipas state last August have increased pressure on the government to act.
Officials blame many of the attacks on the vicious Zetas drug cartel, as gang violence as spiked in recent years amid a military crackdown on organized crime.
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