About 1,500 Central American migrants traveling in the caravan to the southern U.S. border have abandoned their trek north and applied for asylum through the Mexican government, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees confirmed to the Washington Examiner.

"As of yesterday, roughly 1,500 people have applied for asylum in Mexico," UNHCR spokesman Chris McGrath wrote in an email. Those asylum seekers will remain in the country for up to three months as their requests are processed.

The U.N. organization has deployed 45 people to the region to deal with the migrant crisis, and more reinforcements are coming. The group's focus is informing "as many individuals as possible" in the caravan that they can stop in Mexico and apply for asylum.

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Mexico's Commission for Refugee Aid, or COMAR, is overseeing the application process and fielding all requests for asylum, not the U.N.

"If someone enters Mexico and approaches COMAR seeking asylum, they are registered and processed into the asylum system and released once pre-registration occurs and they are issued an asylum certificate, in accordance with Mexican law," McGrath explained.

Following the initial request for asylum, the applicant must remain in the country until he or she has been approved or denied. This process can take up to 45 days but can be extended to 90 days in certain cases.

The UN organization is helping people who have applied for asylum in Mexico find housing for the next 45 days. It has made 200 additional beds available for asylum applicants.

It's also relocating some of those who had arrived in Mexico's southern city of Tapachula prior to the caravan's arrival to other parts of the country, due to the influx of people in the region. Mexico's Civil Protection agency has opened additional temporary shelters due to the sudden demand.

As many as 7,000 people have joined a caravan of migrants that originated in Honduras and is traveling to the U.S.

The government of Mexico had asked UNHCR last week to work with them and process asylum applicants. It also deployed hundreds of federal police to its border with Guatemala to prevent the illegal entry of Central Americans, but the operation was unsuccessful and the group pushed passed police.