The majority of the migrants starting out on the route are young men. But there are women and children, too. Mexico’s National Migration Service (INM) estimated that one in 12 people on the route are under 18, some making the journey alone.
photograph by – Peter Haden
Today the sad reality is that most Central and South american countries are going through hard economic and political times. Because of these hard times many find no other choice than to migrate to Mexico or to the United States in search of a better life. According to Rodrigo Dominguez Villegas ,Mexico has long been accused of ignoring Central and South American migrants traveling through the Mexico on route to the United States. The Mexican government has long ignored these traveling migrants , which has made it easy for these migrant to be exposed to violent crimes like rape, kidnap, extortion and assassination. According to Villegas article ,as many as half a million Central and South American immigrants hop aboard freight trains colloquially known as “La Bestia,” or the beast, on their journey to the United States each year.
The photographer of this image;Haden is one of many images he has taken of the migrant community. Haden is a radio reporter, photographer and multimedia journalist by looking on Haden’s website we can see that Haden is interested in various issues involving the migrant community for example like that of mass deportation for example. This particular image of migrants on “La Bestia’ is a common image of a Central or South American migrant traveling by train in search of a better life. For some migrants the train (La Bestia) has been one of the only options for traveling through Mexico. Central and South Americans require a visa to travel through Mexico which makes it complicated for many to travel in search of a better life.a Mexican officials are patrolling the roads, bus stations, and airports it has been not until recently in trying to reduce the amount of Central and South migrants crossing into Mexico and the United States that cargo trains are now being searched. The train (La Bestia) until now was the only route left for migrants without visas. Although many migrants take these train route many other migrant try to find other ways to travel through Mexico whether its trying to get a visa or being smuggled into the country, Today many books like that of “Enrique’s Journey” for example that talk about the Beast and general history and experiences with this train journey. This photograph although targeted to a general audience it does not depict the reality of all traveling Central and South Americans because it shows a more calm and in some sort a way hopeful environment.
This image of migrants traveling on the train is useful to historians because it depicts the reality of many Central and South Americans that are in search of a better life in Mexico and the United States, which might help them contrast this image to future images of migrants and see how things have changed Although it does not depict much of what is really going on on these trains like the violence against these Central and South Americans, it does depict how the train( la Bestia) along with carrying them, carries all their hopes and dreams of a better life for them and their families.
-Jennifer Aguilar Urias
January 20th,2016