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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDespite perils, more U.S.-bound migrants are turning to 'La Bestia' to cross Mexico
ARRIAGA, Mexico They gathered at dawn in this railyard in southern Mexico, contemplating their next move: catching a ride on the roof of La Bestia (the Beast) the name migrants use for the notorious freight train that winds its way through Mexico toward the United States.
Climbing on the top looks very difficult, especially with the kids, said a dubious Carlos Onan Galo Perez, who had traveled from Honduras with his wife and their three children. Im worried.
He had heard about the dangers: the criminal mobs that terrorize travelers, the risk of falling and losing an arm or leg, or worse. Mexican police recently reported that delinquents tossed several migrants from La Bestia in the state of Veracruz, leaving one dead and two with severed limbs.
But the train has reemerged in recent weeks as a preferred mode of travel for Central American migrants after the Mexican government, under pressure from the Trump administration, started making it more difficult for them to cross Mexico on their way to the U.S. border.
Just last year, legions of migrants traveling in caravans passed from Guatemala through the Mexican state of Chiapas largely unimpeded. Thousands more were given humanitarian visas early this year allowing them safe passage northward, keeping in line with campaign promises from Mexicos new president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, that migrants would be treated with respect and compassion.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/despite-perils-more-us-bound-migrants-are-turning-to-la-bestia-to-cross-mexico/ar-AAChziY?li=BBnb7Kz
dalton99a
(81,516 posts)AJT
(5,240 posts)They will be sent back anyway, many without their kids. Their children will be put in camps. I know they are fleeing horrible things, but they are not going to be safe here. Does anyone know what they think is going to happen here?
lunasun
(21,646 posts)In other words out of desperation they take chances many here do not need to take or can imagine
https://preemptivelove.org/blog/refugees-asylum-seekers-and-migrants-three-reasons-people-flee-home/
One woman explained that she was forced to leave when a gang, mistaking her tattoo as the symbol for a rival gang, threatened to kill her. Another woman in Honduras fled after both her mother and son were killed in the same week by gangs. Despite knowing the trek to the US would be dangerous, she left because she knew: If I stay here, I will die
Many families that travel to the United States know theyre at risk of being separated from their families due to stricter immigration laws. But even this has not proved a deterrent. Parents are so desperate to give their children safety, to give them a chance for a better life, that they are willing to risk being separated from them.
Can you imagine how horrible your situation would have to be for you to risk giving up your child so they might be safe?
Thats what so many are facing in Central America.