Jumping from A Moving Train: Risk, Migration and Rights at NAFTA's Southern Border

Abstract

July 2007. Hundreds of Central American migrants were camped along the railway tracks in Arriaga, Chiapas waiting to for the freight train to leave. Some were eating, perhaps their last food for days, others had bottles of water tied across their shoulders, some attempted to rest under the train cars to escape the hot sun. One young man brushed his teeth under the trees, using the water he carried in a recycled coca-cola bottle, to prepare himself for the journey ahead. Arriaga, a town of 25,000 people, is split in half by the train tracks. The town's tiny plaza, with a small playground, fondas (eateries), and a railway museum, sits on one side of the tracks. The town's church and market lie on the other. These Central American migrants in Arriaga, some 150 miles from Mexico's southern border with Guatemala, were eager to jump the freight train to continue their journey north to the United States. The train had not left Arriaga for a full week and many were desperate as they felt trapped. Their preparations underscored the dangers and harshness of the trip. They would have to hold on to the train for hours and days at a time, riding on ladders and the roofs of tank cars. Those who fall asleep and lose their grip risk death or severe injury, such as dismemberment.