Immigrants Grapple With Man and ‘The Beast’

By Heather Stone

Daisy Méndez Mendoza of Honduras cries as she describes how she was raped Photos and captions by Heather Stone/Chicago Tribune.three years ago on her first trip across the border between Guatemala and Mexico. "I don't feel safe. I don't. A woman is in much greater danger than a man," she says, her face reddened by her tears and breathless heat. This was Mendoza's second attempt to go to the United States. On this trip she was propositioned by other women to work as a prostitute in one of the border towns. She was taking a small break from her journey at the Casa del Migrante, a small haven for immigrants located near Tapachula, Mexico. April 2005.

A Honduran woman debates whether she should attempt jumping onto the train in Ciudad Hidalgo, the city on the Mexican side of the border near Guatemala. The train is one of the most dangerous places for women. Many are raped. Gangs run the train and rob many of the immigrants, and injuries occur frequently when people fall off the train. April 2005.

"Wendy," a prostitute, works and lives in a small, airless cement block room in the back of a bar, where she gets $6 from each customer. On good days, she said that she has about eight customers. Many women never make it across the border due to the high cost of hiring a "coyote." Tecun Uman, Guatemala, April 2005.

The child of an immigrant who was run over by "The Beast," the nickname for a freight train on the Chiapas-Mayab railway that immigrants use for transport, sleeps under a cross with crutches at the Inn of Jesus the Good Father for the Poor and Immigrants in Tapachula, Mexico. The inn is run by Olga Sanchez, who lives in Tapachula, which is on the border of Guatemala. Fourteen years ago, she started the Good Father shelter to help illegal Central American immigrants who suffered horrific accidents trying to cross Mexico's border on their way to the United States. April 2005.

Immigrants and merchants cross the Suchiate River, which borders Mexico and Guatemala near the town of Tecun Uman, Guatemala, about 1,500 miles from the U.S. border. Even though there is an official border crossing at Tecun Uman into Mexico, many people choose to wade through the water or go by raft. Helping migrants cross the river is a small industry for ferry-men who will take people across on an inner tube raft for a couple of quetzales. April 2005.

María Magdalena Bresuela-Cambalas, 25, left her three children to find a way to support them. She would not beg for any man's support, she told me. Nor, she added, would she sell herself. So when she was laid off last fall from a foreign-owned clothing factory in El Salvador, where she earned $34 a week, she headed north. Getting on "The Beast" in Ciudad Hidalgo, where many immigrants frm Guatemala begin their train ride in Mexico, wasn't a problem. But soon she had to get off because Mexican immigration inspectors were up ahead. One of the men traveling with her was supposed to hold her as she jumped, but she slipped and fell under the train's wheels. One foot was cut off; another was still dangling. Here she is seen working on her embroidery at the Inn of Jesus the Good Father for the Poor and Immigrants in Tapachula, Mexicao. April 2005.

Heather Stone has been a staff photographer at the Chicago Tribune since 1998.

7 Comments on Immigrants Grapple With Man and ‘The Beast’

California K.T. says:: June 27, 2010 at 10:34am; I must agree with Nena M, and I think they said it best. I hate it when people here (in the US) say oh well they can just pay up and move or well they made a choice to leave home. How foolish can we make ourselves sound here? Regardless of were it is in this world if people has nothing and everyone around you has NOTHING and you know you can walk, ride, or do what ever you can to go somewhere and make money for your family... I would swim to China if it meant I could feed my two small children! My heart goes out to any immigrant. The brutality that people inflict on any immigrant is the same song and dance that has been going on since the beginning of time. What I think is not right is that the government run anything never works properly... why cant we correct the process so that people can come here legally. Lets not forget that when these poor souls do make it here (the 'lucky' ones) the worst is not over. They work in meat factories, in fields, and other jobs were they still can get seriously hurt and they don't have access to medical services and they work 12 to 13 hours a day to make practically next to nothing. Try getting to know some of 'these people' and you might be surprised at what you find. Maybe you can learn truly appreciate that fact that you were luck enough to be born in a country with better opportunities were you don't have to make these kinds of decisions, and that is all.
Jorge says:: June 23, 2010 at 4:24pm; ur right they could have stayed home and let there family suffer and be hungry all the time.They HAD to do it for their family's.
Hnde says:: April 20, 2010 at 12:38am; at this very time one person L live is planning to do the same exact thing ,the trip to the US.My pen just droped because the bad picyure those immigrants tell.what can I do to stop that ,I do not know what to do.
ROCKS says:: March 24, 2010 at 7:21pm; "THESE PEOPLE" ARE THE PEOPLE THAT ARE DISCRIMINATED FOR HOW THEY LOOK AND HOW THEY DRESS. "THESE PEOPLE ARE LOOKED DOWN UPON BECAUSE THEY ARE MEXICAN OR HISPANIC. "THESE PEOPLE" HAVE SACRIFICED ALL THEY HAVE TO GET TO THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES WERE THEY GET TREATED LIKE SHIT AND WORSE THAN IN THEIR HOME LANDS. "THESE PEOPLE" ARE MY PEOPLE. AND IM PROUD TO BE MEXICAN.
sergio says:: January 19, 2010 at 6:02am; ??? ?? ???? ??? ????, ????? ?????? ??? ????. ? ???????? ?? ????? ?????? ? ????? ??????? ??????!
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nena m says:: November 29, 2009 at 7:32pm; these people??...they are no different than you and me except for they were born in countries that do not offer the opportunities that we take for granted...many of "these people" risk their lives making that trip so they can send money back home in order to feed and support their families...they really dont have much of a choice...its not easy for "these people" to leave their loved ones behind to come to this country and work jobs that many of us wont do because we think we are too good...so i really feel sorry for you because you could learn a thing or two from "these people".
Katrin English says:: October 27, 2009 at 2:54pm; i feel really sorry for these people, and i wish that this had not happended to them, but it was there choice to cross the border, and they didnt have to it. I know that people only do it to get money, but its not right? i dont know .
respond please!

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