Sam Fulwood photos
Migrants and refugrees at the Mixhuca Stadium in Mexico City.
Mexico City—Three young people. Teenagers. Sitting on the stairs of a stadium, chatting. They could be teenagers chilling on the steps of the New Haven Public Library. Instead, they are young people at the Mixhuca Stadium in Mexico City, traveling on the caravan headed north.
They had been on the road for 16 days, having fled from El Salvador on Oct. 31 to escape extreme violence. “We are good people, hard working,” one of them told me “and all we want is an opportunity to have a better life, feel safe and take care of our families.” Their ultimate destination was the U.S., where they hoped to find freedom and opportunity.
They were among an estimated 2,500 people at the stadium on the day I was there, all traveling on the caravan heading North. Some, like the family above, opted to stay in Mexico, seeking asylum from the Mexican government with assistance provided at the stadium from advocates and lawyers.
Others were determined to continue until they reached the United States.
The caravan travelers are well organized, forming in groups largely based on their hometowns. They hold mass assemblies to make decisions about critical issues, including travel routes.
The travelers’ stories were heartbreaking and overwhelming. They shared common themes: poverty, powerlessness and constant violence.
One woman I met with, “Josefina,” is a 36 year-old mother of three young children. She fled Honduras after organized crime seized her house. They are the ones who run her town, she explained, using violence and threats as methods of social control, while extorting money and assets from residents. She fled when she had nothing left, leaving her children with their grandmother. Her goal: to get to safety in the U.S. and be able to work to provide for her children.
Sadness permeated pockets of the stadium, a place where there is relatively little by way of privacy. One man sat in a corner, seemingly lost in prayer.
Another wept openly while sitting on the floor and being comforted by her companion.
Families assembled in the bleachers of the stadium, while others remained in the interior, under the tents which serve as sleeping quarters.
In a few days, the caravan members plan to continue onward to the U.S. Theirs will be a journey filled with peril and uncertainty. Travelers may experience backlash and hostility in parts of Mexico (this appears to occur most often in more affluent communities).
Some are calling for their deportation or even harsher measures. Tension is particularly high in Tijuana where, because the region borders San Diego, there are many migrants seeking to cross to the U.S.
People join the caravan because traveling in a large group is safer and more affordable than other options for those fleeing violence in Central America. Other options include paying exorbitant fees to violent organized crime gangs to be smuggled across the border.
Nonetheless, serious dangers remain. It is reported that this month an estimated 65 migrants traveling in two trucks disappeared in Veracruz.
Those able to successfully make it to the U.S, border will then begin the long and uncertain process of trying to obtain asylum or get other forms of relief.
Mother, mother/There’s too many of you crying/Brother, brother, brother/There’s far too many of you dying/You know we’ve got to find a way/To bring some lovin’ here today, eheh.
—Marvin Gaye, “What’s Going On”
No one should be encouraging these poor people to make that trip and giving them false hope. Times have changed there won't be open borders anymore.