Migrants from Central America nervously mill around the "La Bestia" (The Beast) waiting for it to depart and jockeying for the choicest spots on the carriages, Arriaga, Chiapas, Mexico.   "Maras" criminal gang members, may be waiting in the jun
Young Central American migrant men climb up in the pre-dawn chill onto a northbound freight train which will carry them closer to the US border, Lecheria train depot, Mexico City, Mexico.  2008
"Freddy" from El Salvador lost his arm last year when fell from the "La Bestia" (The Beast) train in northern Chiapas State, Mexico.  He has lived since that time at Albergue Belen, shelter for migrants, run by Italian Priest, Padre Rigoni in t
A cluster of migrants from Central America mill around in the pre-dawn chill of 2,200m (6,000 ft) high Valley of Mexico waiting for the freight train north to depart, Lecheria, Mexico City, Mexico.  2008
Janeth Aminta Munoz of Honduras was robbed and beaten at a market between the southern border city of Tapachula, Chiapas and the border when she reached into her bag by several men who nearly killed her.  She was taken in by the Shelter of Jesu
Central American migrants warm themselves beside a fire of scrap wood and trash in the pre-dawn in the 2,200 m (6,000 ft) high Valley of Mexico before hopping a train further north.  "La Bestia" (The Beast) train journey safely behind them, mig
Women from Honduras mill nervously around "La Bestia" (The Beast) train where later they may fall prey to "maras" criminal gang members, waiting in the jungle to climb up upon this slow moving freight train, and who have been known rape, rob, beat a
Guatemalan porters smuggle goods across the Rio Suchiate which forms the porous border between Guatemala and Mexico, Talisman, Mexico.  2008
Closer to the coast, the Rio Suchiate which marks the Mexican - Guatemalan porous border widens and slows allowing smuggling and river crossing from Guatemala (on the far bank) to Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico on makeshift rafts.  2008
Mother breasts feeds child while tending her sidewalk stall in Guatemala City.  According to the World Bank (2007), the average Guatemalan earns US$2,400 per year, which puts pressure on parents to feed and care for their children.  2008
Protester for workers' rights is encamped in front of the Palacio Nacional, the former residence of the president but still at the spiritual heart of the country, Guatemala City.  2008
A Honduran migrant man smokes a fat joint after missing the freight train further north from Lecheria, Mexico City, Mexico.  Many of the young migrants try to escape gang culture or drug abuse in their country with varying degrees of success. &
Jubilant Central American migrant men ride atop northbound freight train they just mounted in Lecheria train depot, Mexico City, Mexico.  2008
There is a heavy Mexican military presence in southern border city of Tapichula, which has a regular flow of undocumented migrants and drug trafficking from Guatemala and further south, Mexico.  2008
Echoing what happens in the United States: Mexican construction crew approaches Central American migrants at Albergue Belen in the southern border city of Tapachula offering them 60 pesos (US$ 6) for a day's hard labor.  Such cash can help the
North of the last freight train, migrants will have to survive by their wits hitching rides on trucks plying the back roads of rural Mexico.  2008
Guatemala City slum from where so many of the migrants come, trying to earn enough money to escape the gangs, drugs and poverty, Guatemala.  2008
Handicapped man begs for change on the mean streets of Guatemala City, Guatemala.  2008
Guatemalan man sits on curb of busy Guatemala City street sniffing glue or solvent. Inhaling solvents has become a chronic problem in poverty stricken Central America.  Many young migrants head north to the United States in an attempt to rid th
Young Central American migrant men have found a spot on top of the "La Bestia" (The Beast) freight train for the 2 1/2 day trip exposed to rain, sun and surprisingly cold temperatures when the train climbs up to the 2,200m high (6,000 ft) Valley or
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