Migrants from southern Mexico's dispersed caravan pin hopes on permits

Karen, a 4-year-old migrant girl from Guatemala, is carried while crossing the Rio Bravo river with her family, the border between the United States and Mexico, with the intention of turning themselves in to the U.S. Border Patrol agents to request asylum, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico January 2, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

MAPASTEPEC, Mexico (Reuters) - Thousands of people from a 4,000-strong migrant caravan that has been crossing southern Mexico by foot since Christmas Eve dispersed on Tuesday as they boarded buses to processing centers where they are expected to apply for travel permits today.

Buses provided by Mexican immigration authorities took the migrants to facilities in Huixtla, just 25 miles (41 km) north of the southern city of Tapachula near the Guatemalan border.