New Mexico [Mexico], May 11: Thousands of migrants in Mexico have been clambering onto dangerous freight trains rumbling northward in a scramble to reach the U.S. border by the time the United States ends a tough migration policy later this week.
In recent weeks, up to several hundred people have boarded daily, activists and officials say, with many setting off atop train cars pulling out from a brief stopping point at a garbage dump in Huehuetoca, a town north of Mexico City.
The rush has intensified as news circulates about the end on Thursday night of Title 42- a COVID-era policy that since 2020 has allowed the U.S. to rapidly expel migrants back to Mexico.
The U.S. is preparing for a jump in border crossings when it goes, piling more pressure on authorities already grappling with record levels of illegal entry.
Many migrants want to reach the border as soon as possible, although they are unsure what the rules will now be. Washington has said it will finalize a new regulation this week that will deny asylum to many.
For years, mainly Central Americans have crisscrossed Mexico on cargo trains, dubbing them collectively "La Bestia" (The Beast) due to the risk of injury, even death, if they fell off. Migrants are also vulnerable to gangs, cold nights and sweltering days.
The latest wave of people aboard "La Bestia" are largely poor Venezuelans, including families with small children, mostly aiming to reach Ciudad Juarez, opposite the Texan city of El Paso.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
