Ride With Me

Late last year, I hopped a freight train with a bunch of Central American migrants. We rode 12 hours overnight from Chiapas to Oaxaca, and I had a boxcar-top seat for the trials and tribulations of the migrant journey through Mexico en route to the Estados Unidos. Listen above to my World Vision Report radio feature from this trip, following a 15-year-old Guatemalan named Yimi (pronounced Jimmy).

Last month, 72 Central and South American migrants were brutally massacred in the northern state of Tamaulipas, not far from Texas. That could easily have been any one of the people who were on this train with me. At Christmas, Yimi told me the Zetas wouldn’t let him cross the border without paying a price, so he decided to give up and head back to Guatemala on the same train route. I haven’t heard from him since.

Spend a day in this guy’s shoes, and you’ll understand a little better the plight of thousands of desperate souls who risk life and limb every day attempting to reach our border. And if you’re wondering what it was like for me to ride atop ‘The Beast,’ listen to my Reporter’s Notebook. There’s a photo slideshow of Yimi’s ride as well.