Mexico City, Mexico - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has said he plans to present laws to Congress that would protect children and adolescents across the country.

These proposals will include actions to protect unaccompanied underage migrants in Mexico, as well as efforts to put a stop to bullying in Mexican schools.

Pena Nieto, who was speaking about programs to stop child labor, said he would submit these proposals as a preferential bill, which gives Mexican legislators 30 days to vote on it and erases the possibility of the bill being dragged out or shelved in Congress.

The president hasn't used a preferential bill on any of his previous goals.

The bill is expected to be submitted as the fall congressional session begins. It will guarantee protection for unaccompanied migrant minors and minors involved in criminal or civil cases. It will also increase punishment for bullying in schools, including heavy fines for people who do nothing to stop bullying after they become aware of it.

Pena Nieto's latest proposal follows an effort approved in June to reduce child labor. That law raised the minimum working age from 14 to 15. Mexico struggles with child labor, including many children who don't attend school because they have to work.

The effort to protect unaccompanied underage migrants has become increasingly important as child migration from Central America has ballooned in the last year. Despite a decrease in those migrants over the past couple of months, it remains an issue for Mexico.

From October through July, around 63,000 unaccompanied children were detained after illegally coming into the US from Central America, twice as many as the same period in the previous year. It is estimated that thousands of undocumented immigrants slipped through the cracks.

In July, about 13,000 children were detained crossing the US border illegally - either alone of with a parent - about half the number detained in June. The number of Central American children also has fallen in Mexican shelters near the US border, further indicating that fewer non-Mexican Central Americans are making the trip.