An honor to be nominated for @PeabodyAwards for our @NewsHour reporting on migrants making the treacherous journey through the Darién Gap, filmed by @BrunoFederico9 , produced from the jungle by @Villaloncarlos and from DC by @mtill50 and @sarajust.
to.pbs.org/3nMafII
It’s been so gratifying to keep in touch with many of the now-immigrants who let us journey with them through the Darién jungle, from Colombia to Panama, Mexico and now, the U.S. Just last night: a happy reunion in Philadelphia with Waseem, who now works making deliveries.
Very different from where we met – in the Darién Gap, where he and migrants from around the world converged, making a desperate bid to reach the U.S. via the Americas. Waseem traversed the jungle with three other Pakistani friends (below) and Cameroonians fleeing war.
Facing closed borders and restrictive immigration policies, there was no other way for Waseem and other migrants to enter Panama except through the deadly dangerous gap, where migrants are routinely robbed, raped and face risk of death by injury, drowning and murder.
After making it to a migrant camp in Panama (many don’t, their remains strewn across the jungle),he and his Pakistani friends had to wait weeks for security vetting from Panamanian and US officials who took their biometric data.They passed the time rolling chapati bread everyday.
Eventually, they all made it to the US. Months of ICE detention followed; one was deported to Pakistan, after a year-+ journey through some of the world’s most dangerous regions. Waseem is the only one to have received a work permit so far; the other 2 wait anxiously.
Last, but far from least, none of this reporting would have been possible without the @pulitzercenter, champions of undercovered yet critical stories.
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