After crossing all of Central America, the family continued their journey into Mexico, facing extortion from gangs and authorities along the way. As the danger mounted, there was another round of horrors in store: They now needed to travel on the freight train known as La Bestia (The Beast) or el tren de la muerte (death train), which gained its nicknames from the horrific accidents that happen when migrants fall off the tops of cars.
They spent four days inside the packed freight cars of La Bestia, enduring heat, dehydration and hunger. But when they went to take the final leg of the journey to Piedras Negras at the U.S.-Mexican border, the train was full, so some members of the family had to ride on top of it for 17 hours.
“We tied ourselves there with bedsheets,” Suares said. She placed the bread and water people offered them in a small hole on top. “The sun was terrible. With the same bed sheets, we covered ourselves from the sun.”
At the border in El Paso, after collecting data and assessing their status, immigration agents asked what city they wanted to go to. Suares chose Chicago because she had heard from others that the city “was receiving migrants without a problem.” They ate and showered before boarding a bus for a ride of almost 24 hours.
In Chicago, they stayed in the police station for nearly two weeks, until staff members moved the family to one of the downtown migrant shelters set up by the city due to her daughter’s medical condition. They stayed there for two months before being given temporary housing assistance at an apartment in Roseland, a community on Chicago’s far South Side.
