Dangerous road to the American Dream, via South America and Mexico

Subject : Geography

Section: Places in news

Context:

People from India (Punjab, Haryana and now Gujarat) and Pakistan take an illegal route to enter the USA and Canada, that passes through the jungles of Panama, risking their lives. The route is called the ‘Donkey route’.

First stop: Latin America:

Countries like Ecuador, Bolivia, and Guyana have visas on arrival for Indian citizens. Some other countries, including Brazil and Venezuela, give tourist visas to Indians easily.
A migrant’s route also depends on which countries his agent has ‘links’ in — links to human trafficking networks.
The nearer a country is to the US border, the more difficult it is to get a visa from India.

Crossing a dangerous forest- Darién Gap:

From Colombia (or any other Latin American country), the migrants enter Panama. This involves crossing the Darién Gap.
- The Darién Gap is a geographic region in the Isthmus of Darién or Isthmus of Panama connecting the American continents within Central America, consisting of a large watershed, forest, and mountains in Panama’s Darién Province and the northern portion of Colombia’s Chocó Department.
Risks here include a lack of clean water, wild animals, and criminal gangs. Migrants can face robbery and even rape in this region — crimes committed here go unreported and unpunished.
Guatemala is a big coordination centre on this route. Migrants are handed over to new traffickers here.
Alternate route:
- There is one more route from Colombia that starts from San Andrés, to avoid the forest in Panama. But it is not much safer.
- From San Andrés, migrants take boats to Nicaragua, a country in Central America. Fishing boats with illegal migrants go to Fisherman’s Cay, around 150 kilometres from San Andrés. From there, migrants are transferred onto another boat to move forward to Mexico.

At the US border:

The 3,140-km border separating the United States and Mexico has fencing, which the migrants have to jump across. Many choose to cross the dangerous Rio Grande River.
A new, safer route:
- There is another easier donkey route- migrants first go to Europe, and from there, directly to Mexico.
An average donkey trip may cost between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 40 lakh. But sometimes, the cost is as high as Rs 70 lakh.