Stories of migration from some of the best young journalists in Mexico, Central America and the United States
Jennifer Collins, Manuel Ureste and Eric Lemus reporting from Mexico
When thousands of unaccompanied migrants children crossed Mexico into the US last year, the media concentrated on the children themselves. But what of the parents? What motivates them to send their children on such a perilous children, and what goes through their minds as they wait. Witness the experience of two parents who wait anxiously for news of their young boys, somewhere on the 4000 mile journey from El Salvador to the US.
Aug. 20, 2014
Only the most desperate parents put their children in the hands of a human smuggler for a journey to the United States that can put them face-to-face with kidnappers and end in arrest, detainment or worse.
But an undocumented couple living in Baltimore, Maryland worried even more about the possibility that their two boys would grow up like orphans on the outskirts of homicide-riddled Sonsonate, El Salvador. So Jose, 35, and Ester, 33, themselves undocumented Salvadoran immigrants, began a quest to reunite their family illegally in the US.
In so doing, their children became some of …
Continue reading original article
Jan. 1, 2000
Crossing illegally from Central America through Mexico into the US is terribly dangerous, in many ways. Yet, more than 50,000 underage migrants have been caught trying to cross the US southern border in the last year.
Some jump a freight train known as "The Beast," where one false step could mean a lost limb — or worse. Some are kidnapped by drug cartels, others by freelance criminals and held for ransom. So why would any parent send their children on the journey, alone?
For many, like Jose and Ester, the answer is fear and desperation. They are undocumented …
Continue reading original article
July 21, 2014
Con el teléfono en la mano, Enrique aprieta cada uno de los números que le dicta su mujer. "011-91-81... -repite en voz para corroborar que la marcación es la correcta"- La habitación está en silencio, y sólo el vertiginoso tac-tac de los dedos del salvadoreño presionando las teclas diluye algo la tensión del momento. A continuación, el primer tono. Luego el segundo, el tercero... Así, hasta que contesta la misma irritante "You have reached a non working number –anuncia en inglés- Please check the number, and call again".
Decepcionada, Karla deja escapar un …
Continue reading original article
Sept. 5, 2014
Continue reading original article
Jan. 21, 2015
Hace ocho años, el padre de esta familia emprendió el viaje hacia los Estados Unidos cuando se estrechó el círculo de la violencia y el desempleo en su comunidad de origen. Seis años más tarde fue el turno de la madre. Hace unos pocos meses lo intentaron sus dos pequeños hijos, pero las autoridades mexicanas los capturaron y deportaron. Dentro de unas pocas horas tendrán que arriesgarse de nuevo a pesar del endurecimiento de lo que la administración del presidente Barack Obama denominó la peor crisis humanitaria en la frontera sur. Su esperanza: asirse con uñas y dientes a cualquier …
Continue reading original articleJan. 1, 2015
Continue reading original article