The unstoppable Central American migrants Whether alone or travelling as part of a caravan, migrants are exposed to a dangerous journey when crossing illegally into the United States. Unable to withstand the situation in Central America any longer, they flee north, while criminal structures modernize and strengthen the migration business.
Gonzalo Ramírez and his son Damián left Jocotán, Chiquimula, for the United States with the hope of changing their family’s life. It was 14-year-old Damián’s idea: he wanted to buy a house and land and send money to his mother to help her with his four younger brothers.
Damián felt hopeless when contemplating the lack of opportunities in Jocotán. As part of the Dry Corridor, the area is famous for prolonged droughts and high levels of malnutrition and poverty. He also was encouraged by seeing that some of his neighbours who had headed north years ago were doing well: they had set up a store and bought property.
With that in mind, the Ramírezes sold a part of the only land they had (valued at US$6 500) to a ‘guide’ (migrant smuggler) who, in addition to paying them for the value of their land, offered to take them to their destination in the United States. During the journey, however, things changed. ‘Getting to Ciudad Juárez – in northern Mexico – took us five months,’ Damián said. The trip wasn’t what they expected: the three guides (or coyotes) they were travelling with misled them, and they were left to fend for themselves. The plan failed.
After being abandoned, Gonzalo and Damián left the suitcase that carried their money at the front desk of a hotel while they went to the toilet. When they returned, it had disappeared. Upset and anxious, they were stranded for a couple of days until they were able to get a ride in a small truck that was carrying 40 other people. The driver instructed them to squat down and ride in silence. That was how they arrived in Mexico City.
‘When we got to Mexico City, they took us to a big house where we stayed for 22 days. There were people who got really drunk, and the police always arrived at midnight,’ Damián recalled. In the midst of this chaos, they begged for money in the streets and looked for any kind of work. With everything against them, they finally left the place they were staying at to try to make their way north on their own.
According to Gonzalo, another guide appeared, but he didn’t help them either. ‘The only thing they’re interested in is money. It’s a lie that they take undocumented people on an easy trip. On the road, everything changes. Anyone who says, “Give me this amount and you’ll be there before you know it” is lying,’ he said. Finally, a guide they found some time later gave them instructions for turning themselves in to the Instituto Nacional de Migración de México (Mexico’s national migration institute), which offers ‘voluntary’ returns for Central American migrants who cross the border illegally, and they were deported to Guatemala. Damián doesn’t rule out another attempt at making the journey.
The Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración (Guatemalan migration institute) reported that in late September 2020 they received 19 130 deported Guatemalans flown in from the United States. Data from the International Organization for Migration office in Guatemala shows that the indigenous population, which makes up half of the country’s inhabitants, is the group that is most represented among migrants.
‘When we got to Mexico City, they took us to a big house where we stayed for 22 days. There were people who got really drunk, and the police always arrived at midnight.’
The business of migration
In Guatemala, migrant smugglers tend to to make announcements on community radio stations, with flyers that they hand out in indigenous areas in the northern and western parts of the country and recently on social media.
‘Guaranteed trips to the United States’ is the name of a Facebook page that Edgar – the name he gave when contacted – uses to promote his services.
His pitch includes photos and videos that show him crossing various Mexican states. He guarantees a six-day trip from Guatemala to El Paso, Texas, by plane for US$10 200. ‘You only walk for 20 minutes,’ he promises. One day longer to get to California. Edgar only transports three people at a time. ‘We leave every 12 days and I have 16 years of experience,’ he says.
According to interviews with local sources, the Guatemalan Fiscalía Contra el Tráfico Ilegal de Migrantes (prosecutor against the smuggling of migrants) recorded 150 captures in 2020, of which only one corresponded to a trip led by a coyote; the rest were people involved in illicit enterprises but who were not identified as coyotes. Since this branch of the public prosecutor’s office was created in October 2019, it has received support from researchers in the US to dismantle the networks that transport migrants. Coyotes regularly charge between US$7 000 and US$12 800 per trip. Migrants have three chances to cross the border, and, if they are not successful, they receive part of their money back. However, as Gonzalo and Damián’s story illustrates, they can also be robbed.
‘Ricardo’, another coyote, offers several fee packages, although he recommends the ‘special trip’, which costs up to US$12 800. He says this is the safest option because only three people travel at a time. The other option, which costs US$7 000, takes 25 days, and the journey is made with a large group of migrants who spend four days in the Arizona desert.
Unlike Guatemalans, who are accompanied by coyotes from the start, Salvadorans and Hondurans begin their journey by taking a bus to one of the borders with Guatemala or Mexico. There, they seek out smugglers to continue their trip. Personally interviewing coyotes is nearly impossible, and it is also difficult to get a neighbour or acquaintance to identify them publicly: no one in their communities is willing to expose them.
Fleeing the gang
In El Salvador, gangs have more of a national presence than in Guatemala, and there are more reported cases of people abandoning the country due to violence. This was true of Judith – who asked for anonymity for her safety – a Salvadoran woman who fled MS-13 early this year.
She was paying US$500 a month to be allowed to keep her restaurant open. However, the gang decided it was not enough and killed her son-in-law. Judith left almost immediately with her daughter and grandson to seek asylum in the United States, but her application was denied, and they were deported back to Guatemala. This is because in July 2019 Guatemala and the United States signed the ‘Safe Third Country’ Asylum Cooperation Agreement, which would direct Hondurans and Salvadorans to seek asylum in Guatemala. That agreement, according to official announcements from the White House, has been annulled by the new Biden administration in the United States.
‘My daughter is afraid at work because they could deport her at any moment.’
Judith explains that her life continues to be in danger. She spent a little over two months in Guatemala, but she didn’t want to stay there because someone in the first 2020 caravan had recognized her, and she started to receive threats and felt unsafe. She went to Mexico, where she obtained a residence permit while working to resolve her migration situation. However, COVID-19 reached Latin America and, while borders were closed and other restrictions were put in place, her permit expired.
Judith contracted COVID-19, and her daughter had to find a job to support her mother and son. ‘My daughter works in a bar where she makes just over 2 000 Mexican pesos that we use to rent a room and eat,’ she said.
The family’s worries are only growing as they haven’t had up-to-date documentation since August. Despite their efforts at the consulates, their humanitarian visa was not renewed. Judith begins to cry over the phone: ‘My daughter is afraid at work because they could deport her at any moment.’ They don’t feel safe where they live, and they haven’t ruled out attempting another trip to the United States when they can save some money.
Credits:
Autho: Walfre García Photography: @JosueDecavele