Many children, adolescents and youth traveled unaccompanied in the migrant caravans that crossed Mexico in 2018 and 2019. For them, the caravan was a strategy for security, protection and autonomy. It also became a space of celebration and for them to make their own decisions and discover their own identity.
The Central American siblings Kevin and Natalie, who traveled in the first Migrant Caravan together across Mexico in 2018, were stranded for a little less than two months in northern Mexico. Their journey to the United States transformed into something much more complex and challenging than they could have imagined.
The detention of thousands of migrant families and the separation of fathers, mothers and children under the Trump administration was a policy meant to criminalize migration, a policy that outraged the whole world. Unfortunately, these practices are not new. Michelle, Lady, Daira and Alan tell us about the consequences that these cruel measures have had on their lives.
Children that travel through Mexico are exposed to many dangers, threats, discrimination and xenophobic policies. The shelters run by religious communities and civil society represent sanctuaries, shelters and places of refuge where they can rest and feel protected.
During 2018 and 2019 the large Central American migrant collectives organized in caravans to walk together and protect themselves in their transit through Mexico. It was a phenomenon that caught the attention of the entire world. The stories of these boys and girls that formed part of this historical act of displacement provide us with an opportunity to understand this phenomenon from their point of view.
