The US border begins in southern Mexico. This is how Central American, Cuban, Haitian and African migrants tell the story of their journey to achieve the American dream. It all starts at the border between Mexico and Guatemala on makeshift rafts launched on the Rio Suchiate before walking for days on end and venturing out on La Bestia, the famous freight train that crosses the country. Avoiding the Mexican migration police, alone or in caravans, despite the long journey and the many dangers, thousands of migrants take this route every day to flee the gangs and violence in their countries. A migration route that changes from day to day, depending on the mood and politics of Donald Trump. The migrants themselves lose their money, their dignity and sometimes even their lives. This long-term story about the Mexican migration route began on the day of the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in 2017 and lasted the four years of his mandate.
The Southern Border
Series, 1st place
A migrant walks along the railroad that connects the city of Arriaga, Chiapas,and Chahuites, Oaxaca. This road through the fields is known to be particularly dangerous. Central Americans get robbed of their shoes and backpacks. Armed robberies with machete knives or guns can go wrong when migrants resist their attackers. 07/02/2017 Arriaga, Chiapas, Mexico.
In stifling heat, the members of the caravan decide to take a two-day break in the small village of Tapanatepec. They take the opportunity to rest, wash their clothes and bathe in the river below the village. Leaving on March 25, 2018, from Tapachula in southern Mexico, on the border with Guatemala, more than 1,500 migrant men, women and children join a month-long "caravan" to the Mexican city of Tijuana on the border with the United States. This march is organized by Pueblos Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders), to protect them from the authorities but also from the gangs and cartels which regularly attack migrants traveling alone. The first caravan of migrants was organized after the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. 29/03/18 San Pedro Tapanatepec, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Norma Romero (L), founder of Las Patronas, gives food to the migrants traveling on board the La Bestia train. The volunteer campaigns of Las Patronas began on February 14, 1995, the day Leonila Vazquez and her daughter Norma Romero came back from the market and saw the freight train with migrants on board asking for food. They threw them their breakfasts that they had just bought without even knowing where these people had come from. Since then, every day, a group of a dozen women prepare bags of food while waiting for the train to pass through their village. 17/03/2017 Amatlán de los Reyes, Veracruz, Mexico.
Two migrants wake up after their second night aboard La Bestia. It is dangerous and difficult to sleep on La Bestia; some migrants use a rope or a belt to avoid falling down during the night. It is estimated that every year, some 500,000 migrants, the majority of them from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, board the train in an attempt to reach the United States. The train, which carries products and materials, including maize, cement and minerals, regularly comes to a complete stop and is inspected by the Mexican Migration Police (INM). The risks of traveling on this train are high and many passengers become victims of armed robberies or have to have a limb amputated following a fall. Since 9 May 2014, railway operators have banned migrants from traveling on the train. 22/04/2017 San Manuel, Tabasco, Mexico.
In the migrant house 72 in the town of Tenosique, the meals offered to the migrants consist mainly of corn tortillas and red beans. That evening, after a phone call from a farmer, a group of migrants equipped with machetes and kitchen knives went to butcher a cow that had died of natural causes and was offered to the shelter by the farmer. The migrants’ house was named after the 2010 San Fernando massacre of 72 migrants by Los Zêtas, a drug cartel in Tamaulipas state in northern Mexico. 10/03/2017 Tenosique, Tabasco, Mexico.
Paula and Luis are fleeing Honduras and El Salvador because of the violence in the country. After walking 50 km, they have just arrived at the migrants’ house in Mapastepec, 150 km from the border with Guatemala. The inhabitants of Mapastepec are very involved with the migrants. Every evening a new family welcomes the migrants for dinner. Here Paula and Luis pray before the meal. 04/02/2017 Mapastepec, Chiapas, Mexico.
Norma, the founder of Las Patronas, takes a group of migrants in her car to help them take a bus to the nearest town. The group is afraid to cross the city because they are being watched by the Mexican Migration Police (INM). After more than 3 weeks of high-risk travel, being deported is not an option. Las Patronas' voluntary campaigns began on February 14, 1995, the day Leonila Vazquez and her daughter Norma Romero came back from the market and saw the freight train with migrants on board asking for food. They threw their breakfasts that they had just bought without even knowing where these people had come from. Since then, every day, a group of a dozen women prepare bags of food while waiting for the train to pass through their village. 15/03/2017 Amatlán de los Reyes, Veracruz, Mexico.
Migrants walk on the road in sweltering heat without drinking water, using everything they can to protect themselves from the sun. The next day the Mexican Migration Police (INM) will carry out an operation to capture and deport members of this caravan to their country of origin. This is the third caravan of migrants organized since the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. This time there are 3,000 Central American, Cuban and African migrants. Migration policy in Mexico has succumbed to pressure from Donald Trump, who threatened to increase import tariffs, if the Mexican president did not stop the flow of migrants to the US at his northern border. Conditions along the migration route have become harder and migrants find themselves more than ever victims of US policies. 20/04/2019 Mapastepec, Chiapas, Mexico.
Central American migrants from the caravan watch the freight train hoping it will depart soon. After walking more than 250 km, the members of the caravan hope to continue their journey on board La Bestia. Setting out on March 25, 2018, from Tapachula in southern Mexico, on the border with Guatemala, more than 1,500 migrant men, women and children join a month-long caravan to the Mexican city of Tijuana on the border with the United States. This march is organized by Pueblos Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders), to protect them from the authorities as well as the gangs and cartels that regularly attack migrants traveling alone. This was the first caravan of migrants organized after the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. 28/03/18 Arriaga, Chiapas, Mexico.
Migrants from the caravan rest in a field near the road while others stop the passing cars to ask for money to pay for a bus ticket to the next village for each member of the caravan. Starting on March 25, 2018, from Tapachula in southern Mexico, on the border with Guatemala, more than 1,500 migrant men, women and children join a month-long caravan to the Mexican city of Tijuana on the border with the United States. This march is organized by Pueblos Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders), to protect them from the authorities as well as the gangs and cartels that regularly attack migrants traveling alone. This was the first caravan of migrants organized after the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. 31/03/18 Niltepec, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Two children play in the sand next to the wall that separates Mexico from the United States. The border in Tijuana began to be demarcated with a fence in 1990, during the presidency of George Bush Sr. In 1993, Bill Clinton had an impassable 14-kilometer-long fence built there. 08/05/2017 Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.
Funeral of Ingrid, 29, found in an unmarked grave on the US border after she disappeared 5 years earlier. Members of the organization COFAMIPRO (National Union of Families of Disappeared Migrants) accompany the family throughout the recovery of the body. 23/01/2019 El Progreso, Honduras.