Mexico City, Feb 15 (IANS): The Mexican city of Piedras Negras, which borders the US, has announced to relocate a group of 120 Central American migrants after altercations that left four people injured in recent days.

The migrants will be transported before February 22 to Monterrey, Hermosillo, Reynosa, Saltillo and Acuna, where they have been promised formal work, Efe news quoted authorities as saying on Thursday.

Of the group of 1,672 Central American migrants who arrived in Piedras Negras on February 4, 1,400 still remain in the city, the others having been repatriated, relocated in shelters in other cities or having acquired jobs. At least 40 managed to legally enter the US, authorities said.

The decision to relocate the 120 migrants was made after the migrants staged a protest at the shelters where they had been housed.

Meanwhile, in Eagle Pass, Texas, across the border from Piedras Negras, the US Defence Department has not lowered its guard and at least 2,000 troops and immigration personnel have been deployed to prevent migrants from illegally entering the US.