MEXICO CITY  —  Mexico is sending illegal Cuban migrants home for the first time under a new immigration accord.

A Mexican immigration official says authorities are preparing to send the Cubans back to the communist island after they were caught in Mexico.

The official is not releasing additional information.

Cuban immigrants trying to reach the United States have turned to Mexico in recent years after it became harder to enter through Miami. Almost all were given temporary visas in Mexico and continued on to the U.S.

In October, Mexico agreed to send the Cubans home. An Associated Press photographer in Cancun saw about 60 immigrants being loaded on to buses early Thursday, and some said they were being sent to Cuba.

A Cuban Embassy official had no information.