A record 400K migrants have crossed the treacherous Darién jungle to reach the U.S.

Hundreds of people sleep in tents each day outside Bajo Chiquito, the first village that migrants encounter in Panama after making the grueling trek across the Darién jungle. (Manuel Rueda)

BAJO CHIQUITO, Panama — Bajo Chiquito is a small Indigenous village built along a river. It's the first place that U.S.-bound migrants reach in Panama, after making the hazardous trek across the Darién jungle.

Here hundreds of people stand in long lines under the blazing sun, as they wait to register with Panamanian immigration officers who enter everyone's names on computers.