US Reaches Deal with Central America Over Migration Via La Bestia Train
The U.S. has reached an agreement with Guatemala and Mexico to try and prevent migrants from getting on an infamous freight train in an attempt to illegally enter the U.S., the BBC reported.
The train, known as La Bestia, Spanish for The Beast, every year attracts thousands of migrants attempting to stow away. It is common that people fall off the train or under its wheels to their deaths.
In the agreement, the three nations said they would establish more checkpoints along La Bestia's route to try and catch the migrants or to dissuade them from getting on in the first place, according to Agence France Presse.
It was unclear from news reports how many checkpoints would be established and where exactly they would be.
The deal was struck during meetings between Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who has been in Central America trying to slow the flow of undocumented immigrants into the U.S.
Since October, more than 52,000 undocumented children have come to the U.S. border from Central America, according to the U.S Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. has struggled in trying to deal with the sheer number of undocumented people crossing the border and the Obama Administration has taken heat for what opponents are calling a delayed response.
The migrants from Central America board La Bestia as it heads north, either climbing to the top of the train or clinging onto its side. It is illegal to get on the train this way but tough for officials to regulate on the hundreds of miles of track.
The train stops south of the Mexican border with the U.S., meaning after the migrants reach the end of the perilous train journey, they must still traverse harsh conditions to find the border.
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