Powerful Portraits Document the Abuse of Migrants Passing Through Mexico Ellyn Ruddick-Sunstein - Feature Shoot
go to original September 29, 2014

Armando, El Salvador. His destination was the United States, but he was deported in Baja California while riding in the cargo train crossing Mexico. He wanted to retry the trip as undocumented via Tenosique, Tabasco. This time, while trying to get on the train, he fell and the very train amputated his arm. He awaits the document certifying him as a refugee. Pictured right - Celso’s prosthesis. Celso, Honduras, 31, victim of an accident while riding the freight train they call the Beast. - Tapachula, Mexico, 2014. (Nicola Frioli)

For Al Otro Lado del Sueño, or The Other Side of the American Dream, photographer Nicola “Ókin” Frioli catalogs the heartbreak and devastation suffered by migrant families and individuals seeking security and stability in the United States. Having left El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, or Nicaragua in hopes of escaping from the gang violence that pervades much of Central America and delivering their families from the brink of economic collapse, a great number of men, women, and children pass through Mexico.

Through this treacherous passage, many are subjected to violent beatings, sexual abuse, kidnappings, and murder at the hands of the country’s gangs, including the Maras Salvatruchas, and corrupt officials operating within the system. Migrants often lose limbs under the heavy wagons of a vehicle known simply as “the beast,” a cargo train that transports them across the country in hopes of reaching the US.



Teofilo Santos Rivera, 42, Panamá. He was the victim of an attempted mass assault by gang members during the crossing through Mexico. He jumped off the roof of the train, hurting his feet. Also suffers from liver cirrhosis and a cancerous sore on the back. In January 2014, the doctor gave him only 40 days to live. His idea is to reach his children and grandchildren in the U.S. to say goodbye. – Tapachula, Chiapas, 2014. (Nicola Frioli)

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