In a challenge to immigration authorities, a huge group of Central Americans is headed for the US. Our reporter @aflores is journeying with them.
buzzfeed.com/adolfoflores/a…
buzzfeed.com/adolfoflores/a…
For five days now, hundreds of Central Americans have crossed immigration checkpoints, military bases, and police in a desperate, sometimes chaotic march toward the US. Despite being in Mexico without authorization, no one has made any effort to stop them. (📷 @aflores) 
About 80% of them are from Honduras. Many said they are fleeing poverty, but also political unrest and violence that followed the swearing in of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez after a highly contested election last year.
Organized by a group of volunteers called Pueblos Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, the caravan is intended to help migrants safely reach the US, not only bypassing authorities who would seek to deport them, but gangs and cartels known to assault vulnerable migrants.
When they get to the US, they hope authorities will grant them asylum or, for some, be absent when they attempt to cross the border illegally. There are no guarantees that once they reach the US border they'll be able to cross undetected or be allowed to stay. (📷 @aflores)
The caravan propels itself forward any way it can. Sometimes that means packing into the back of a truck, negotiating lower rates for vans, or hitching a ride on the back of empty big rigs. The group sleeps in town plazas. Locals and churches feed them.
The caravan had plans to board the freight train known as "The Beast" or sometimes "The Train of Death" to speed the journey. It's a dangerous trip, with death and injury only too possible, so the group practiced boarding. But the train didn't come. (📷 Luc Forsyth)
The group ended up boarding trucks and school buses to cover the distance to San Pedro Tapanatepec, a town in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Moving the group took hours, and some of the men, unable to gain a space in the vehicles, walked all night to rejoin it.
"If we all protect each other we'll get through this together." — Pueblos Sin Fronteras organizer Rodrigo Abeja
Their journey continues today. Follow @aflores, who is traveling with them.
Their journey continues today. Follow @aflores, who is traveling with them.
