Migrants Boarding ‘The Beast’ Train
There are many transportation methods migrants use to cross illegally into the US, each with its own unique risks, but one of the most dangerous is riding the train called “The Beast.” This locomotive travels throughout Mexico and stops near the border. It does not carry passengers – well, not intentionally – so when migrants choose to ride, they do so by climbing atop the railcars.
“La Bestia” is known as one of the deadliest trains in Mexico. Every year, around 500,000 migrants board these “death trains” from Central America and Venezuela, and many have lost life and limb by falling off freight cars. A security consultant told the New York Post: “It is very dangerous. When they are on top of the trains some of the migrants push each other off because there is so little space. I show a video in my talks of one person being sliced in half after he falls off a train and onto the wheels.”
Now that President-elect Trump is getting ready to take office and bring back his tough-on immigration policies, more migrants are risking their lives aboard the death trains before the inevitable slew of Executive Orders lands on January 20. Claudia Rios, a Durango resident who lives near the train stop, told NewsNation that she has seen more than 200 people attempt to board one of the trains in recent days.
“Lately they come very aggressive, like all the good, all the kind migrants have crossed, because in this group that’s coming, they’re fighting among themselves,” Rios said, adding that she’s seen an alarming number of children and even people in wheelchairs trying to board.
Texas’ Bold New Ad Campaign
The Lonestar State has led the way lately in finding innovative methods to deter illegal migrants from crossing. From razor wire fences to busing illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities and states, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has been actively fighting against the influx of the undocumented. His newest plan involves an ad campaign warning migrants of the dangers they face with startling scripts on billboards such as:
“How much did you pay to have your daughter raped?”
“Many girls are raped by the coyotes you hire.”
“Your wife and daughter will pay for the trip with their bodies.”
“Coyotes lie. Don’t put your family at risk.”
The plan is to put up 40 billboards with these messages in four different languages, which will be posted in Mexico and Central America. In a news conference in Eagle Pass, TX, the governor said, “The message is, ‘Do not risk a dangerous trip just to be arrested and deported.”
WOLA, Advocacy for Human Rights in the Americas, noted three “alarming trends,” including the fact that “kidnapping and extortion of migrants has increased notably since late 2023. Many describe this moment as the worst period of violence they have seen, both in numbers and brutality.” The organization also said that “many Mexican authorities tolerate or are actively involved in the migrant kidnapping enterprise.”
Homan Warns Parents Will Be Separated From Their Children
Trump’s Border Czar, Tom Homan, warned that with the new immigration policies, parents will be separated from their children who were born in the US. He explained, though, that families would be allowed to decide whether to leave together.
“Here’s the issue,” he said, “you knew you were in the country illegally and chose to have a child. So you put your family in that position.”
Homan also claimed that the new administration would be reintroducing detention centers for families but that they would be “soft-sided” tent structures. “We need to show the American people we can do this and not be inhumane about it,” he explained. “We can’t lose the faith of the American people.”
Newsom’s Plans to Thwart Trump
California Governor Gavin Newsom and his team are on an urgent hunt to find ways to thwart incoming President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans, and not everyone approves.
As Liberty Nation News reported earlier this month, Newsom held a special legislative meeting to discuss ways to circumvent laws that will see migrants deported from the country. One idea was creating a litigation fund of up to $25 million to help fight against any policies that would “harm the state,” according to a release from the governor’s office.
A draft of the plan obtained by Politico proposes the “creation of an Immigrant Support Network comprised of regional ‘hubs’ to connect at-risk individuals, their families, and communities with community systems – such as legal services, schools, labor unions, local governments, etc.”
An internal memo described some of the suggestions, although there weren’t a lot of details. Ronald Vitiello, former US Border Patrol chief, told Fox & Friends:
“We just had an election on November 5. People voted for secure borders, safe streets and knowing that the president was going to initiate a deportation effort, not just because he wants to, but because we just had about 12 million people enter the country and be encountered by CBP crossing the border illegally. Something must be done about what just happened over the last four years, and now he [Newsom] wants to use the state’s funds and the state infrastructure to flout federal law.”
He continued: “This is a state that has some of the highest income taxes in the country, some of the highest sales tax in the country, and has got a $68 billion deficit… so he’s going to use taxpayer resources to protect who, exactly? People who are in the country illegally, who broke the law to be there and have also broken the law in the jurisdictions in which they live in California.”
