Claudia Guadarrama
Every day, hundreds of undocumented migrants, mostly from Central American countries, try to cross Mexico on a journey fraught with danger, risking their lives to fulfill the dream of a better life as workers in the United States.
This journey through Mexico begins in the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, at the border between Mexico and Guatemala, where migration controls are minimal, being a very rough area where migrants can easily cross illegally./
Impunity, corruption and violence are everywhere on the border, and the migrants just have to cope with it, as well as with military, immigration and police authorities, and civilians who take advantage of their vulnerability to extort, rob and assault them. If they manage to survive that, they still have to face the danger of the gangs along the border ready to kill or rape them.
The double speak of the Mexican government, the media and society on the migration issue is flagrant along the southern border: they insist on the US government respecting the rights of Mexican migrants crossing the US border, yet abuse the civil rights of the Central American migrants. Officially there is no problem on the southern border.
My photographs report on the journey and situation of illegal migrants in this part of the country. A major part of my work on the border is on the freight train that crosses Mexico; it is only important as a means of free transportation to the final goal, i.e. the northern border, and as a means of avoiding immigration checkpoints. The journey by freight train is dramatic and perilous.
“Before the limit the official policy of the Mexican government to deal with the phenomenon has merely led to more people trafficking, boosting the price of corruption and adding to the dangers of crossing Mexico. Illegal aliens fleeing poverty in Central America remember Mexico for repeated violations of their civil rights by the authorities and for the xenophobic attitude of communities along the border.
