Meeting Danger Well South of the Border

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Journey to the Border
For tens of thousands of impoverished Central Americans who sneak into the United States each year, the "border" begins at Guatemala's frontier with Mexico. This is where many begin the dangerous trek through the desert into Arizona or Texas.

Then one of the bandits grabbed the woman Pineda had been chatting with and ordered Pineda and Valencia to get lost as he began dragging her toward the forest.

"She was crying, begging him, 'Please, don't do this. Take everything you want. But don't do this,' " Pineda recounted in a miserable whisper. "The bandit punched her in the face and shouted, 'Shut up, stupid dog!' "

By the time a third gang of robbers accosted Pineda, Valencia, and another man on their path a few days later, Pineda recounted, they had nothing of value left. Enraged, the thieves began hacking at the third man with their machetes as Pineda and Valencia sprinted away.

"I knew this trip would be hard," Pineda said in a choked voice, blotting tears from his eyes with his white T-shirt. "But not like this."

Valencia, meanwhile, was more preoccupied with a rumor spreading through the shelter that a freight train would be leaving that night.

He pulled Pineda aside to share some train-hopping tips he had learned on previous trips north.

"See, when the train is moving, be careful not to run too close alongside it," Valencia explained, using his right hand to simulate a train moving along the dining table and his left hand to show a little man running toward it at top speed. "Otherwise the air will suck you right under the wheels."

The little finger-man slid under Valencia's right hand and collapsed on the table with a splat.

Pineda gave a weak chuckle. He looked like he wanted to vomit.

Yet as the afternoon gave way to evening, it was Pineda who seemed most eager to set out for the grassy expanse around the train station a few blocks away.

Several hundred migrants were already huddled there in the dimming twilight, waiting to stake out positions on the freight cars that rail workers were linking to form the train.

At about 10 p.m. the last car was rammed onto the back of the train with a bang that echoed in the pitch darkness. Migrants were now packed into every nook and cranny of the train.