Child Victims of Central American Cartels: Fleeing to the US Border | Immigration Crisis Documentary

[Music] they are 15 years old and are getting ready to reach the united states from mexico preparing to travel 3 000 kilometers on a freight train look there's a train that stopped over there let's go joao and rafael have fled honduras where their lives were in danger they are traveling alone with no money they know that this journey could cost them their lives but they're ready to do anything to reach the united states do you think it will be a train like that we'll get on look we could put ourselves here we'll be safe getting on and off a moving train has caused the deaths of hundreds of migrants including increasing numbers of minors despite the risks over the last three years tens of thousands of teenagers have attempted this journey the young migrants who are trying to take the train for the first time are given some advice you must never try to catch the train head-on if the train is going that way for example you catch it with your right hand and run by its side like that and then you put your first foot on most importantly never let go because if you fall the train sucks you're under and you're dead but once on the train the worse is yet to come armed gangs extort money from the migrants if you see guys getting on the train with machetes or guns you lie on the floor and you don't move and you stay still give them everything you have don't even hesitate give them your rucksack don't resist or they'll kill you straight away [Music] the train only passes once a day you can see the fear in their eyes the hesitation before the jump that could cost them their lives [Music] fear of a fatal fall or severed legs so there are some who jump some who still hesitate [Music] but for those who have never caught a moving train it's going too fast joao rafael anthony and the other teenagers didn't dare too dangerous we'll see if we can take the next one if it's going more slowly we'll have to wait but that one was too risky will the next train be the right one will joao rafael anthony and their friends make it to the united states teenage migrants are the new challenge for america the stunning breaking news a massive surge of illegal immigrants is underway right now and we do mean massive over 5 000 children and teenagers have been arrested each month in the united states for two years the americans have nicknamed them the dreamers teenagers running away from the extreme violence of gangs in central america traveling without their parents and ready to face any dangers it's their story that we're going to tell that of joao and anthony 15 years old they've decided to take the freight train that crosses mexico up to the border with the united states we need to be really awake on the train if you fall you're dead after the train there is the border with the united states to be crossed on foot we'll be following juan and jesus two cousins they are fifteen their family has paid a smuggler to get them across the desert to get each illegal immigrant across the board i get one thousand dollars drugs make even more money but we make a lot with migrants walk behind me and here's what is waiting for them on the american side private militia who hunt migrants in the desert it's a big game we're just trying to play along with them yo we got activities base camp this is uh overwatch three four eight they went if they aren't arrested the migrants get lost and die of thirst in the desert by the thousands all to a general indifference young girls are kidnapped and disappear they have fallen prey to smugglers and mexican cartels and some of them end up forced into prostitution but for the first time illegal immigrants who have managed to cross the border have decided to weigh in on the american presidential campaign millions of latino illegal immigrants who are reclaiming what obama promised them to escape their illegal status what place will the americans give to these young migrants who also dream of quickly becoming legal their journey starts in the south of mexico at the border with guatemala in the chiapas the teenagers left salvador honduras guatemala a few days earlier to reach palin k their first step to mexico they arrived by foot by bus palin k a small town that runs along the railway line it's where the train going north leaves from heading to the united states a freight train that the migrants have nicknamed the beast the quickest and cheapest means of transport but also the most dangerous and thousands of young teenagers use it this evening we meet them in a guest house that is run by volunteers who are helping them just next to the train lines they all come from honduras zhao 15 has left his mother and little brother behind him anthony 15 as well had death threats from local gangs first i crossed all of guatemala how long did it take you from the border at least 15 or 16 hours i walked day and night to get here from the border two days and one night in a row at least 25 hours at home in honduras there's a war for territory between gangs they kill families children what they like is killing thousands of teenagers have passed through this refuge in the last two years they find a little help and rest there before crossing all of mexico hi mum it's me where are you at the moment honestly i'm too scared to take the train but i'm going to do it i've no choice no question of going back to honduras there's nothing there for me now there's just you and my little brother that's all damn it cut off i forgot to tell them to say a prayer for me so that i'm not afraid to take the train it terrifies me it's too big too fast [Music] what we want is to get to the end arrive there we'll do everything we can a freight train is leaving a bit before midnight zhao anthony raphael and their new friends are waiting this time they can't let the train go by without getting on board they only have two euros in their pockets earlier i was super scared but now i'm better before i was alone but now i've made friends which is more reassuring it motivates you more the thing is that we never know what time the train leaves but we're going to get the next one my dream is to be able to help my family to have a real job save as much as possible and one day go back to honduras to have a quiet life i can't stop thinking about the train guys i hope it's not going to be too dangerous i know that the most important thing is to stay awake when we're on it because if you sleep you fall and then we are really going to have to stay awake the whole time [Music] after five hours of waiting their second opportunity arrives the night train goes less quickly so a chance for the young migrants to get on board more easily we can do this i'm going i've got to meet my mates oh [Music] the group of friends has decided to do everything they can to stay together but jiao is impatient to get on board as well the train is soon going to accelerate tonight they've all managed to get on board each of them has chosen their place to spend the night anthony has also managed to get on board at the next station the train slows down for the time being zhao and his friends have managed to stay together we managed to get on board it's all good go on guys move forward we're better staying here it's safer if we get on the coaches it's too dangerous they ask us to leave our camera attracts too much attention they are scared of being spotted and extorted we've agreed to meet up further north in one of the stations where the freight train stops it goes up to mexico towards the american border but in the next stations there is no sign of anthony or jowl or their friends we follow the railroad looking for them locals tell us that their train was intercepted by the mexican police but nobody has seen the children did they manage to escape or have they been arrested because of pressures on migration for a year the south of mexico has been under pressure the roads are monitored by the police and the army the united states have demanded that the mexican authorities intercept migrants this year 11 000 children and teenagers traveling alone have been arrested on this route a record they are placed in temporary detention centers for minors which today are packed and under high surveillance i'm not allowed to speak to you and you can't film here zhao and his friends are maybe in a center like this one in the north of the country after lengthy negotiations we managed to get access around 30 children and teenagers are locked up here at the moment we can't talk to them or show their faces all were arrested trying to illegally get to the united states like jowl anthony and their friends it's strange it's like a prison for children no really no not at all here the children are treated well they're never treated as delinquents they haven't committed any crime [Music] but they can't leave they can't leave for their own safety the children can stay here for over a month then they are thrown out and are returned to their families back to the drawing board overrun by the influx of young migrants the mexican authorities are making the detention center bigger of course we have a security system in the whole establishment it's to ensure that the children's stay goes well it reassures the families if zhao anthony and their friends haven't been arrested maybe they have reached the north of mexico [Music] the freight trains reach the united states in a month via three entry points nogales we decide first to go to nagalas looking for the teenagers once there they would have to find a smuggler to cross the border between mexico and the united states a city with a population of 200 000 under the control of drug cartels who lead a relentless war human trafficking is their new business a few days before we arrived 10 migrants were killed and their smuggler decapitated we check and it wasn't joao or his friends we ask many smugglers and after several days of negotiation one of them finally accepts to let us accompany him he goes by the name daniel he's 27 his speciality is teenagers hey i want you to prepare everybody okay get ready to leave i'm on my way he's just got out of prison six months behind bars in the united states arrested when he was smuggling migrants across the border tonight is his return to business and he's stressed [Music] the boss only pays me once the illegals arrive at their destination in the united states for each migrant i get one thousand dollars once the children arrive at their families the boss gives me my money daniel has worked for the sinaloa cartel for six years one of the most powerful in mexico he can earn up to ten thousand dollars per week because he also smuggles drugs to the united states we use the same roots to get them to the other side and it's the boss who decides when we're taking drugs or illegals often the priority is drugs so it's impossible to get any migrants through on pain of death illegals attract attention they leave rubbish behind them it's a good business but the chickens that's what we call the illegals the chickens earn less than the drugs marijuana is worth a lot more drugs and migrants bring in over three billion dollars each year for the sinaloa cartel never short of ideas to make a profit [Music] come on come on hurry up the migrants who can't pay the cartel for their passage are forced to smuggle drugs to the united states if they are caught their trip ends in prison okay mission accomplished prison or death the violence around mexico's drug trade is reaching new and ever deadlier heights in the last eight years over 50 000 people have been killed in this war which pits the mexican cartels against each other a war for the control of drug smuggling and now for migrants they are capable of anything violent and morally bankrupt and the migrants are their first victims another tragedy linked to illegal immigration nine migrants have been found dead has nogales turned into a deadly trap for zhao and anthony it's here that they had planned to cross the border in nogales the sinaloa cartel hides migrants in the region at the top of the city [Music] but you stay here it's too dangerous i'll go alone and come back with them okay [Music] tonight daniel will have three people to get through to the united states as planned the cartel has given him minors go on squeeze up in the back all three of you okay we have a bit of a road to do then we have to walk okay juan and jesus are cousins they are 15 and are going to join their aunt in the united states with them is lewis 42 who is going to look for work over there where are you going and me new york i'll do my best for it to work once we're on the other side a car will come and pick us up it'll take you to hide in a house in the desert and then we'll take you to your families now we're going to stop quickly to get supplies for the journey you take the bag and the boot and put the shopping inside i've got enough for everybody [Music] [Applause] once they are on the other side if they are seen by the american police the group may have to hide out for a long time in the desert [Music] what do you want to do in the united states we want to work where we live there's practically no work on the other side we'll do any work anything to earn money [Music] we'll have to be careful where we're going the army and the cartel clashed today and i don't know what it will be like when we get there if there'll be soldiers or guys from the cartel we'll see what happens if we can get through and they let me do my job it's 10 pm and the town is deserted after an hour on the road daniel arrives at the crossing point the lights in the distance are the united states only a few kilometers away on the other side of the fence take a bag come so i can explain pay attention to the camera over there to see if the american cops are waiting on the other side okay let's go [Music] the group has to walk for nearly an hour in the dark daniel guides them to a spot in the fence where you can get through to the other side what more over there right behind me so nobody can see you from the other side get down he's afraid that henchmen from the status the rival cartel will spot them in the area sit down so nobody can see you we're going to take a break here to see if we can hear anything like the noise of a car don't be scared everything's going well like i said the fence is now less than a kilometer away but the smuggler has stopped he's worried guys we're going to have to go on alone because there are guys from the rival cartel over there and if they see us together they'll kill us we're going to see if we can still get through but it's tight okay let's go will they manage to get through once on the other side of the border the group will have to walk for several kilometers to find the car that is waiting for them [Music] daniel has given us a meeting point in front of a service station on the road to tucson we also go through legally to the american side this is the meeting point hours go by and the group doesn't appear daniel the smuggler doesn't answer his telephone we check with the american authorities that night nobody was arrested two days later and we still have no news of the two cousins juan and jesus we've lost all contact with anthony zhao and their friends on the train did they get lost in the desert it's our first theory here tracks of young migrants heading to the united states disappear very quickly at 45 degrees in the shade you have to be very lucky to get out without dying of thirst unless you come across one of the containers left by eduardo it's empty eduardo canales has become the guardian angel of migrants in the fulfillers region each bottle serves two people for five years this human rights militant roams the roads of south texas in our region migrants have started to die of thirst in the desert today our priority is to stop this continuing iran [Music] thousands of migrants have died here over the last 10 years nobody knows exactly how many the border states don't keep a record of how many bodies are found in the desert eduardo tells us that he hasn't seen the two cousins that we're following in the last 24 hours however in his little office the files pile up the last one that he just received is another migrant found dead the night before in this desert that has become a cemetery here's what's left at least the body was still whole it's not often like that look there's hardly the skeleton just a skull in fact and this body the animals have already started to eat it the reason he compiles hundreds of files is to help the families at least half of the bodies found in the desert are never identified unknown bodies the families are desperate they want to be able to mourn but it's impossible over the last months he's recorded more and more cases of young adolescents disappearing i need to call a family who's asked for help their daughter has disappeared she's 14 or 15 i think this is a recent photo of her hello it's eduardo canales i'd like to ask you some questions how was she dressed when she disappeared do you remember she was wearing a cream blouse the young teenager who has disappeared is called anayel her mother hasn't had any news for a month listen i'm going to find out all i can about her in the area speak soon it's very likely that cartels are keeping the young girl somewhere especially as her mother says she's practically a woman so they've perhaps taken her to abuser disappeared kidnapped lost in the desert we want to find out more anielle's mother agrees to meet us she lives 800 kilometers away in dallas texas in this border state are over one and a half million illegal latinos families torn apart who will do anything to bring over their children who have stayed behind in mexico or honduras juana anael's mother has lived for 10 years in the united states illegally since then she has had two daughters although they were born in the united states they are also illegal automatic citizenship doesn't apply to the children of illegal immigrants mom doesn't my sister have a telephone to call us no she doesn't if i had papers i would go to fetch my daughter myself i wouldn't have needed to ask a smuggler and now i can't even go to see where she's disappeared when you're illegal it's impossible juana is a chambermaid in a hotel in dallas she also illegally crossed the border 10 years ago she had to leave her daughter anael four years old with her parents in mexico it took her a year to save up to pay the smuggler to get back her eldest daughter who she hasn't seen since all the family had planned to celebrate anael's 15th birthday in a few weeks but the teenager disappeared when crossing the border she sent me this photo last may for mother's day in mexico the smugglers told me that the immigration police had arrested my daughter but i called them i asked everybody but i still have no news how much did you pay the smuggler two thousand dollars for her to cross the border and did the smuggler reimburse you of course not they never give the money back the two little girls have never seen their big sister apart from in photos and today they understand that the sister they wanted so much to know has disappeared i wanted to play with her and sleep with her too and how do you feel now bad because i wanted to see my big sister and she's lost i hope we're going to find her [Music] what becomes of all these little girls these teenagers who disappear when they are in the hands of their smugglers anna yell a 14 year old teenager crossed the mexican border at ciudad juarez the second biggest entry point to the united states one of the most dangerous cities in the world sadly it's well known for its missing persons during the 90s and 2000s hundreds of mexicans were sexually abused and killed here by mexican cartels are young female migrants becoming the new missing persons of juarez nobody here wants to talk about it because it touches on a very sensitive business run by the cartels child prostitution a smuggler who knows their methods well agreed to talk to us when young migrants arrive here many are forced into prostitution the gang who runs that here people are afraid to even say their name but they are called the aztecs it's them who run the trafficking of illegals in this area and i wouldn't want to have problems with them antonio is a child smuggler he was born here and has worked independently for over 10 years he is only talking to us to condemn the behavior of his competitors they buy and sell children even little boys but especially girls unfortunately those who want to cross the border without their help they batter to death it's horrible to see all that right under the noses of the american cops over there who are always patrolling and don't forget that these gangs they also traffic drugs they traffic humans and drugs in suarez nearly a thousand women have disappeared since 2010 in these bars run by the cartels and forced into prostitution how many migrants that their families never dare to come and get back suridar juarez may be the end of the journey for young anna yell who disappeared when she crossed the border her mother entrusted her to a smuggler so she wouldn't get arrested by the american border police [Music] on the other side of the wall in the united states the patrols never stopped [Music] tonight the american officer cavillo from the border police is responsible for surveillance of the wall just on the other side of sui de juarez all righty thanks officer cavillo has just been called as backup with his colleague officer leon so right now we got three crossing uh from mexico illegally into the united states but one of our ready is that east on the incline north a chase ensues a helicopter guides the vehicles towards the fugitives and so the camera operator is talking to the agent uh keep going you'll see them to your right there on the ground kind of like that agent that we saw with the night vision this camera oh they just made the apprehension oh yeah they're right there three four eight they went over the river fence and through the the fence that we have up is solely to slow down the amount of people that they come in it buys us time to actually make the arrest a fence that only slows down the migrants and their smugglers but whose construction still costs over four million dollars per kilometer and is watched constantly by twenty thousand border control officers [Music] and it's just a metal sheet and it goes all the way down so the whole bottom is to prevent tunneling we know tunneling will still happen but it's just something to slow them down [Music] the united states spends over four billion dollars each year on stopping migrants from entering but the cartels are always one step ahead [Music] tonight you know it's up and down the the traffic's coming and going some of the houses down there are stash houses meaning they're areas where someone who's crossing the border illegally they can get to that house they'll allow them inside and then they can just hide from us [Music] in 10 years over a dozen militia like this one have been created along the border a symptom of an american society that is becoming more extreme immigration has become the principal theme of the presidential campaign the election that decides who will succeed barack obama will take place in a few months one candidate has decided to stake everything on the subject donald trump billionaire ultra conservative candidate we need to build a wall and it has to be built quickly against him hillary clinton the democrat who promises to defend the rights of illegal latinos the race to the white house is on and two sides go head-to-head legalization or status quo the fate of 11 million illegal latinos living in the united states is at the heart of the debate obama made a decision by decree he demanded the regularization of illegal immigrants who had arrived on american soil before 2007 a strong political choice challenged by the republicans this move has been blocked for over a year we can do it these illegal latinos live in the united states some of them for several years they have come from all over the country they gather in front of the new orleans courthouse which is going to pass judgement on the legality of obama's decree we need to show us our strength right we need to show our numbers um [Applause] illegal immigrants who go out in the street shouting that they are not afraid of being thrown out it may look like nothing but it's a first in the history of the united states this ruling may change the lives of these parents and their children who are all illegal like john 9 and felipe his dad they live in california and have traveled over 3000 kilometers to demonstrate john was born in the united states but he doesn't have any papers because his father entered illegally to find work right now what we're trying to say is that even though we are not documented we absolutely have no fear we know that this documentation is going to come we're not going to sit aside we're not going to be afraid and important to be fighting he's afraid of the police's arrest [Applause] they want to be heard by the judges inside the courthouse [Music] they are also american dreamers illegal because they are the son and grandson of illegal immigrants [Applause] after four hours waiting the audience is over the judges have upheld the blockage of the decree the republicans have won this round listen to me we are going to appeal the judge's decision so that each person who is working who has a family in this country can stay here legally with us [Music] [Applause] [Music] they only have the american supreme court left to appeal to to obtain their papers and give a future to their children [Music] in the end we'll win we'll go to the supreme court if we have to we'll fight to the end and we'll win we deserve it we've worked hard to get here [Music] keep trying come here it's a good place to stay even even even if it takes years to be here to get your papers just stay here you know [Music] obama's decree continues to arouse such hope today that even the most vulnerable are trying their chances we go to meet them at mcallen the eastern border of the united states pregnant women mothers and their young children hundreds per day who cross the border with the aim of being arrested they all come from central america they were arrested a few days ago when they tried to illegally enter the united states i had to go through the river to cross the border and a border police car arrested us my daughter and i couldn't take anymore now we're going to new york to join my husband who's waiting for us kalia left el salvador a month ago she is free today because in the united states the law prevents a mother and her young child from being locked up in a detention center but their freedom has a price it's the last measure to date that the american authorities have taken an electronic tag all the mothers wear them it's because we have to appear before the judge and so they know exactly where we're going and if we leave the city it starts to make a noise with that on my ankle i feel like i've done something bad that i'm being watched all the time and i'm going to get arrested trying to control the stream of migration with electronic tags is a world first clelia like the other mothers is part of the first generation of trackable illegal immigrants monitored by the authorities and locatable at all times by gps but clelia has won some respite [Music] a new life is starting my daughter can study learn english it's a new start for us she is leaving for new york to join her husband who is also illegal will clelia manage to stay in the united states with her daughter a few weeks later she got back in contact with us she managed to join her husband and they live in a new york suburb he has lived here for over eight years working as a cook in restaurants we decide to go and find them [Music] it's 5 am and all the family are getting ready to leave [Music] sorry i'm still a bit sleepy i haven't slept all night i hope that all will go well with the lawyer clelia will find out today if she has the right to stay in the united states a lawyer has taken on her case free of charge for the first time she is going to his office in the centre of new york with her electronic tag i didn't manage to charge it completely overnight so i'll have to take the cable it's hard to see her treated like that it means that she could be sent back at any moment but i hope with all my heart that she can stay here with me i hide it otherwise people look at me strangely normally people who have a bracelet like that are criminals so imagine how i feel come on let's go we're heading to manhattan in the heart of new york a two-hour train ride from the suburbs can clelia go to new york with her bracelet on her ankle [Music] it's 7 30 a.m new york is waking up her new legal life seems almost within reach [Music] it's incredible the buildings here are huge everything here is so different [Music] it's right here seven hand over the squares right here okay thank you bye i want the lawyer to tell me that my case has a chance i think my daughter will be able to get asylum [Music] the young lawyer who is defending her has received the reply from the american legal system on her case if it isn't in her favor clelia may be forced to return to el salvador and may even be separated from her daughter it's the second time that she has tried to illegally enter the united states we are not allowed to attend the interview [Music] 40 minutes later clelia comes out it isn't good news the lawyer told me that they can deport me at any moment now the decision has been taken i perhaps have a chance thanks to my daughter i'm going to demand asylum for her and the law here says she can't stay without her mother so that gives me a chance that they won't deport me but it's going to be very hard i'm disgusted it's really hard but we're going to fight and if god's on our side will manage another broken dream this year the united states has sent over 230 000 illegal immigrants back to their countries a few months later clelia was still in new york with her husband her daughter and her electronic tag but she hadn't yet received any notice of deportation joe and anthony who we lost track of on the train to mexico are alive and well they were arrested heading north they went back to honduras and will try their luck again anielle's mother still has no news of her daughter who disappeared in suri dad juarez six months ago finally the two cousins juan and jesus still nowhere to be found more than 130 000 children and teenage migrants were arrested in the united states over the last two years but how many others disappeared on the road to the american dream

Channel: Java Discover | Free Global Documentaries & Clips

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Keywords: java films, javafilms, javafilmstv, documentary, dreamers usa, dreamers daca, immigration stories coming to america, honduras dreamers, immigration, immigration reform, immigration crisis, immigration usa, u.s. immigration policy, immigration usa 2021, immigration news, us border patrol, danger of immigrant crossing to us, dangerous migrant route, migrants

Id: nS8DHa2OB0U

Length: 46min 34sec (2794 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 04 2022