From The Beast Analysis

From The Beast, I realized that the migration industry in Mexico was far more complex than I had assumed previously. From the start of the book there is a questioning of the very reason people embark of such a terrifying and eye-popping journey. There is always the subtle assumption when reading the articles published by American newspapers for American audiences that the people who cross the border just did so on a whim and they did so without much difficulty or hardship. The Beast put into perspective that deciding to undertake the trip across Mexico into the American north is far more intricate than it comes across. Also, it is nearly impossible to decipher how integral gangs and mafias are to the whole situation. While reading The Beast,

Mexico has migration checkpoints with the nation not just at the borders. It does regularly patrol the most common immigration paths. The police and the army are at times utilized to ensure that migrants are deterred from continuing the journey to the United States. These forces weren’t there to ensure the safe passage of these people to the northern Mexican border. Also because of the situation of Mexican cities and towns, there is the need to prioritize issues and vices. It is also necessary to work with the gangs that cause a lot of the problems to ensure that Mexican citizens are not hurt or disadvantaged. This then causes the Mexican officials to turn a blind eye to a lot of the injustices carried out against these central American migrants and even occasionally aid in hurting these people

It honestly boils down to courage, good fortune and knowledge. It is a dangerous trip to embark on, falling of La Bestia meant you lost your life. Going the wrong way in La Arrocera meant you lost your life. Getting kidnapped by gang members or stepping on the wrong gang member’s toe, meant you lost your life. Good fortune is important because no matter how courageous a migrant is, so many stars must align before a person can cross the border successfully. More people have died or been turned away than have entered the United States. Knowledge was also very important in ensuring that the migrants make sensible decisions about the journey and the trail. There was the story of the Honduran that studied the Rio Grande and had figured out where and when to swim across the river. It took quite a bit of critical thinking to do such when under that large amounts of pressure, he was under during the whole