Pope Francis donates $500,000 to help migrants in Mexico

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis has donated 500,000 dollars to help migrants in Mexico, offering assistance to local projects that provide food, lodging and basic necessities.

The funds, from the Peter's Pence collections, will be distributed among 27 projects promoted by 16 Mexican dioceses and religious congregations, Peter's Pence said in a statement.

In recent months, thousands of migrants have arrived in Mexico, traveling on foot or with makeshift vehicles from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. But they have been blocked at the border with the United States.

In particular, the aid is intended to assist the more than 75,000 people who arrived in Mexico in 2018, in six migrant caravans.

"All these people were stranded, unable to enter the United States, without a home or livelihood," the statement says.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.