Riding 'La Bestia' with migrants in Mexico
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How do migrants prepare for the dangerous train ride?
The trains moved so fast that jumping on directly would be impossible for most of the migrants.
So they have this term that they say, which translates to we're going to puncture the train. And so the young people, they will put on gloves, like a ski mask to protect their face and their eyes. And then as the train comes, they just sprint like right beside it and they somehow jump on and then they just start turning knobs and pulling levers. And what they're hoping will happen is that it disrupts the train's air brakes. And so that would usually cause an emergency stop.
The migrants Eder and his photographer were following finally found the train they wanted, and they got it to stop. They climbed up to the top of the train, and Eder and his colleague joined them. They all spent a frigid night riding north at 50 miles an hour. In Mexico, this train is called the Bestia, the Beast. It's a treacherous and often deadly leg of the journey to the U.S. border. Consider this. Despite the Trump administration's hard line on immigration, many migrants are still traveling north to the border. Today, we bring you a reporter's notebook riding along with Ader on La Bestia to understand why migrants still take this risk. From NPR, I'm Scott Detrow. It's Consider This from NPR. Migrants have been riding La Bestia for decades.
The train can offer a way to travel north without paying smugglers. But the risks are great. Migrants have been kidnapped, assaulted and extorted by cartels. Accidents are common. Migrants have been killed in Maine by falling from the tops of the freight cars. And now, with the Trump administration suspending asylum claims at the southern border, there are fewer avenues to entering the United States than there were even a few months ago. So the question Ada Peralta had when he set out to join migrants on La Bestia was simple. Why take the risk?
There was this Venezuelan woman who I met, and she had slung her little girl just on her shoulder. And I asked her, like, you know, why do this, and why do this right now? And she sort of, like, looked at me, surprised, I think, at the question, and she said, You know, you guys think that the American dream is dead. But for us, the American dream is still very much alive.
What are the challenges faced by migrants on their journey?
And I think what the explanation for that, that I got over talking to dozens of migrants, is that the American dream is not this grand idea. It's a really simple idea. For her... It was that her two kids could get an education. I also met this mother and son from Venezuela as well, Brian and Yalitza, who was his mom. And his mom was in her 50s and he was 23, right? And Yalitza's husband died and she says she told Brian, you know, this is our chance. I've got nothing to lose. We can do this and you can find a better life now. And so they left. And so she told me why I'm doing this is because I think that Brian, my son, could become an entrepreneur. He can have a better life. And then talking to her son, he told me something much simpler, right?
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why are migrants risking the journey on La Bestia?
1:37
2
How do migrants prepare for the dangerous train ride?
1:04–3:46
3
What motivates migrants to pursue the American dream?
3:46
4
What are the challenges faced by migrants on their journey?
2:43–6:03
5
Why did Eyder Peralta choose to ride La Bestia?
6:03–7:56
6
How did riding La Bestia affect Eyder Peralta's understanding?
7:56–15:11
Speakers
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