Story One Anthony walking towards a wooded pass to avoid the border checkpoint. Anthony: So, this is where I start my life as an immigrant in Guatemala. From here I head to Mexico. A bus pulls out and heads through the Guatemalan countryside. Brent sits next to a young Honduran Migrant on the bus. VO: This is Brent and Craig Renaud reporting for the New York Times. We’re riding in a decommissioned American School bus quickly making our way out of San Pedro Sula, the Honduran city some call the most dangerous place in the World. I’m sitting with Anthony, a 16 year old migrant traveler, or who American immigration officials refer to as an unaccompanied minor. Our destination is the northern border with Guatemala, one step closer to Anthony’s goal of eventually reaching the United States. Anthony jumps over a fence then Brent and Anthony walking up over the mountain Brent: Imagine being 16 years old, leaving home on your own, eight dollars in your pocket and trying to make it from Honduras to the United states. Close to 2000 miles. Now in the valley Brent and Antony walk through fields Cut to Anthony and Brent sitting down for interview in the countryside. Anthony: We watch out, more than anything, for immigration officers. Brent: You know this is not the normal kind of thing for a kid to be doing. Anthony: Well, I don’t know what to tell you, because honestly, I have more courage this time. Because the first time that I tried, I was 14 years old. Anthony and Brent continue walking through high grass and the countryside. VO: Anthony is making his fourth attempt at getting to and then across the US border. And he’s far from alone. Broll of Anthony putting his small bag thru another tight barbed wire fence and crawling thru, then Broll of immigration officers catching migrants along road checkpoints. VO: In 2014, more than 68,000 unaccompanied minors from Central America were caught trying to illegally enter the United States. As a result the United States has put pressure on Mexico to stop the young migrants from arriving in the first place, apprehending the kids along the southern border with Guatemala and sending them back home. Anthony continues walking into Guatemala. Then cut to three Honduran migrants walking through tall grass. They crawl under a barbed wire fence through the woods. VO: We left Anthony making his way up through Guatemala and traveled 350 miles up the road near Mexican border to join up with Gustavo, Nelson and Rodrigo. Three teenagers who like Anthony are fleeing Honduras, but who are attempting the journey to the U.S for just the first time. They reach the end of the woods. Gustavo: Let’s be careful here. Let’s try to come out a little further ahead. By the bridge that we will pass. By the rear of it. Nelson pours water over his head. Gustavo: Through here, right? Or is it the other way? A Coyote and migrant through the countryside near a highway. Coyote: There’s the highway over there. There’s the highway. The Coyote reaches and begins crossing the river. Then the kids approach the river. VO: The crackdown on migrants by Mexican immigration has caused the price for a coyote, like this one we followed as he took migrants across the river into Mexico from Guatemala, to almost double to around 8000 dollars per person for passage to the U.S. So kids like Gustavo and his friends, with little money and even less experience are forced to go it alone. Broll of the three migrants approaching the river’s edge. Rafts cross and rafters await new travelers along the shoreline. Rafter: Come this way. Come on kids. Come this way. Come here. The three migrants looking perplexed on shore Gustavo: Over there, to that part. Rafter: Take this one. Shots of people exchanging money for the ride across on rafts. The three migrants begin walking along the shore. VO: The fare to cross the river on a raft is one dollar per person. And after watching a stream of older migrants cross the river on foot, the boys decide they can save money and do the same. Gustavo struggling to fight the river’s current and wade through the water. He returns unable to overcome the river’s current. The other two migrants look on from the shore. Ricardo: Look how high the water is on him. It’s deep. Gustavo swims back to shore. Broll of goods and people crossing the river on rafts near official border control checkpoint. Brent: Uh oh. VO: This river crossing into Mexico would seem like a natural place for a border patrol crackdown. But it’s not being implemented here. With the amount of goods, merchandise, livestock and people crossing everyday directly under the official border control checkpoint, it would just seem to be too lucrative for too many involved. Nelson begins crossing the river and fights the strong current. Brent: It looks like they might finally have the courage go. Gustavo swims frantically across. The three kids begin getting dressed on the river’s other shore. They arrive in a town square. They sit down on a bench. Ricardo: We’ve only got 13 pesos left. Gustavo: It would be easier to go back than to keep going. We made it this far because we are brave. Gustavo begins pulling his belongings out of his backpack. Gustavo: Clothes, underwear, socks and a sweater. Nothing more. Craig: Do you know the way north? Gustavo: Yes, there’s... we’re gonna...We’ll ask as we go and figure it out. Cuts to Honduras and Broll of heavily armed police and military patrolling, teens in streets in Honduras, kids working at the city dump, a kid sniffing glue in the city square, stop and frisks and footage from the scene of a recently committed murder. VO: The Honduras the kids are fleeing is one of the hardest places in the world to be a teenager. The official high school dropout rate approaches 50%, but everyone here says it is much higher with kids routinely leaving school to help parents who are earning less than 2 dollars per day. Homelessness, and drug abuse are major problems, young kids can be seen openly sniffing glue on city streets, of little interest to the heavily armed soldiers who patrol there. On top of that most of the cocaine destined for the United States runs through these streets, creating a gang problem like no other. Sit down interview with reporter named Hawk Brent: A lot of young people who make their way to the United States say that they leave Honduras because of the violence. Do you think that that’s true? Hawk: Yes, when their brother or relative is killed they flee out of fear for their lives. Cut to shots of Hawk on his motorcycle driving through city. He arrives at the scene of the crime, scrambles up a hill and find a high point on top a police car to take pictures of a body being lifted into a body bag VO: CARLOS POSADAS is a reporter for the Honduran independent news channel HCH in the capital Tegucigalpa...on air he has earned the nickname Hawk, for the way he in which he flies around the city and descends on crime scenes like a bird of prey. Its not uncommon for Hawk to cover ten or twelve murders in a single day, taking pictures and video on his cell phone that he then presents uncensored live on the air. Cuts to the Hawk arriving at the scene of a crime on a hill. Hawk and his cameraman set up near the dead body. The body is covered in a yellow tarp. Neighbors and police look on. Hawk: Good evening ladies and gentlemen and thank you to our Central Studio. We’re bringing you this breaking news from Sector Flor 01. In this neighborhood there appears to have been an exchange between gangs and police. I’ve also been informed that moments ago, in another neighborhood, a person was killed in a second confrontation. Now back to the anchors at our Central Branch at HCH, talk the talk, Digital TV. Cuts to sitdown interview with Hawk Brent: One of the first scenes that we went to tonight, there was a dead body on the street and kids walking by it as if nothing had happened. Hawk: In a tough neighborhood like that, people have already witnessed so much. Murders, gangs, organized crime. It doesn’t effect them anymore. They’re accustomed to it now. A swarm of vultures circles overhead. Tractors moving heaps of trash, people by the thousands ...kids collecting trash in the dump... Karen: My name is Karen Joanne. I’m fifteen years old. Brent: Tell me what we see here. What is all of this? Karen: This is the place where the garbage trucks dump there trash. When they leave, we recycle the trash. Brent: And what are you doing here? Why are you here? Karen: I’m here to support my family More Broll of kids at the dump, hoards of dogs and vultures... VO: At the Tegucigalpa municipal dump thousands of people, including children who have long since dropped out of school, compete with dogs and vultures to collect anything they might be able to resell. And for the privilege of working here, they will owe the street gangs a war tax. Alexander: My name is Alexander Lopez. I’m 15 years old. We’re collecting materials like bottles, anything that we can sell. Brent: So you can make about 100 pesos, about five dollars working out here everyday. Alexander: Yes, 100 pesos Cut to Outreach workers helping kids at the dump. Outreach W1: Franklin was over here. Have you seen Franklin? People at dump cover their faces when she approaches him Outreach W1: Don’t be afraid. I’m only asking on behalf of Casa Alianza Cut to other Outreach workers talking with kids at dump, checking their heads for lice and giving them toothbrushes VO: In the middle of it all we found outreach workers from Casa Alianza, the charity known as Covenant house in the US, offering kids treatment for Lice, and teaching them how to brush their teeth. Kids laughing as they try brushing their teeth for the first time Outreach W1: Do it. Try it, don’t’ be ashamed, Do it on top. Like this, see. Do it on top. Broll of kids huffing glue. Shots of team walking thru the market looking for kids to help. Shots of them bandaging up street kids arms VO: Back downtown the outreach workers look for kids who appear to be homeless or using drugs and try to convince them to come to the shelter. On the streets of Tegucigalpa they’re not hard to find. Outreach worker walks up to street kids in park near Casa Alianza, trying to convince them to come off the streets Outreach W1: If you will stay, I’ll take you right now to Casa Alianza. Kid huffing glue comes over. She takes bag of glue from him. Outreach W1: This is a substance they use. It damages their brains a lot, but sadly they just want to stay high. It helps them forget about being hungry because they are street kids. So the drug is like their friend that helps them forget about their pain and problems. Cut to exterior of Casa Alianza. Inside kids are eating lunch, the Director is talking to staff. Cut to sitdown interview with Director, then more Broll of group sessions and registering kids. VO: The Casa Alianza shelter stays full to capacity with kids brought in off the streets by their outreach teams. Jose Guadelupe Reulas is the director of the shelter. Director: In reality, it’s a combination of causes that occur simultaneously: high levels of poverty, the lack of educational and employment opportunities, lack of protection, and the disintegration of the family. But it can’t be denied that violence is the main motivation for the majority of children that travel to the United States, despite the risks. Cut to interview with young girl Melora: She exploited me for sex and work . She made me sell drugs, and made me sleep with many men. Broll of Brent speaking with Melora. Then broll of teenage girls weaving and doing activities in Casa Alianza shelter. VO: 18 year old Melora Martinez, is a resident at the shelter, along with a growing number of girls fleeing sexual abuse at the hands of gang members.. Melora: I had to do it or suffer the consequences. More Broll of group sessions and registering kids. VO: Many of the kids we spoke to at Casa Alianza said they have either already attempted or will soon be trying to reach the United States. 17 year old Zoila described what happened on her attempt before being caught by the authorities and sent back to Honduras. Cut to interview with Zoila Zoila: Some people died from hunger but others were killed because they didn’t do what people told them to do. And it wasn’t just killings people were forced into prostitution, or to sell their organs...Just whatever bad guys wanted from you. Wide shot of a classroom full of teenagers Brent: How many of you know someone who’s in a gang, in a street gang? Most of the kids raise their hands Brent: So, almost everyone. Broll of heavy police presence on the streets of Honduras. Cuts to school interior VO: Last year in the city of San Pedro Sula, the gang problem got so out of control that the authorities simply shut down the high schools, a devastating development in a country already struggling to graduate less than half its teenagers. This school in the Chamelecon neighborhood, is one of the few that managed to stay open as a consequence of its principal being a former gang member who was able to negotiate his school a neutral zone. Wide shot of a classroom full of teenagers Brent: How many of you have seen violence in their community? No kid raises their hand. Brent sits down in a vacant room with two tenth graders from the school, one at a time. Brent: You know, when I came to your classroom and asked if you everyone if they knew anyone in gangs, everyone raise their hands. But when I asked about the violence, no one wanted to say anything. Why? Girl student: I don’t really want to talk about it. Brent: Why? Girl Student: I just don’t want to think about it right now... Brent: Is it because it hurts you to remember it, or because you are afraid? Girl Student: Well both. It hurts to think about it and I’m also afraid. Cut to second 10th grader interview Boy Student: As youth, this is something we shouldn’t talk about. Not because of fear, but for our own security Title: Chiapas, Mexico The three Honduran kids walk down the street of a town in Chiapas, Mexico. They arrive at a migrant shelter. Director: We provide one breakfast at 8:30am and dinner at 5:30pm. I’ll get you registered, so you can go ahead and eat dinner. Gustavo sits down with the director to be registered. Director: Do you have any identification? Gustavo: No Director: Nothing? No ID or birth certificate? Gustavo: No Director: Reason that you left Honduras? Gustavo: No jobs. Too much corruption.Too many criminal gangs. Director: Violence. Gustavo: Yes, a lot. Director: And where are you headed? Gustavo: The United States. God willing. Director: Your education? Gustavo: Grade school Director: 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade? Gustavo: 6th grade Director: How old are you? Gustavo: 19 Broll of teenagers at migrant shelter VO: The Migrant Shelters in Mexico are full of young kids fleeing Central America for the United States. They all insist that they are 19 years old, and they never carry IDs. A precaution they hope, if captured, will keep Mexican immigration from deporting them back to child services in their home country. Cuts to interview with young teen from El Salvador ES Kid: From the moment that I left, I knew all of the risks, including dying on the journey Brent: What’s your name? ES Kid: Brian Brent: Brian, are you traveling alone? Are you here by yourself? ES Kid: Yes, I’m alone. Brent: Where’s the rest of your family? ES Kid: I didn’t tell my family that I was leaving because the gangs would hurt them if they knew. Brent: Why were the gang members after you? ES Kid: They are recruiting kids for a war with other gangs and the police. So they are recruiting a lot of young people to prepare for gang wars. They are gathering arms. Broll of the migrant shelter and migrants. Pictures of gang members and coyotes on a bulletin board. VO: The shelters are a neutral zone for migrants of all ages, Free from the immigration officials who chase them down, and safe from the coyotes and gang members like those pictured on a bulletin board near the entrance, who prey on them. A place where the migrants can get a meal and a decent night’s sleep before heading further North. Cuts to Exterior of Case de Migrantes. An older migrant is taking with the 3 teens from Honduras Man: You’re going to be traveling through the countryside. You’re going to be exposed. You’ll be exposed in the cities. It’s obvious that we’re not from here. People can tell from afar. First, because of how we dress. Second, our haircuts. Third, our looks. They notice from afar. We’re not just talking about immigration, we’re talking about other authorities that will shoot you. Boom. Because once you’re an immigrant, you’ll always be an immigrant. Whether you like it or not. You’re a criminal, to everyone. Cuts to Honduras kids walking A van pulls into an immigration checkpoint. Broll of increased immigration. An illegal immigrant is pulled out of one of the vans passing through.. VO: In reality, the chance that these kids will make will make it all the way to the US is probably slimmer than it has ever been before. In the last year, Mexico has dramatically increased immigration checkpoints in the southern part of the country. Cut to footage of film crew being stopped at checkpoint. Then broll of immigration checkpoints along the highway. VO: Our own car was stopped and searched dozens of times, our passports checked thoroughly. Night and day you can see the migrants being apprehended along the highways. The kids continue walking along a road. A road sign reads, “Mexico D.F“. Nelson: How many kilometers from here to Mexico City? Gustavo: Let’s walk all the way to Mexico City. It’ll take us a month, but we’ll get there. They stumble upon an immigration checkpoint, lined with trucks and vehicles. Gustavo: Immigration is over there. Check it out. They turn off the road and continue through the forest. Gustavo: I don’t think they saw us, dude. Ricardo: Did they leave? Gustavo: Make sure (they didn’t see us) The three young migrants scamper around the immigration checkpoint through fields. Honduras kids walk out of woods and onto a busy highway. Worker: Oh look. There goes an agent, right there. The three Hondurans run off the road and jump over a wire fence into the bushes. Cut to AFP footage of migrants being caught on the ‘La Bestia’ train in Arriaga. VO: Until very recently, migrants wouldn’t have worried much about border patrol until they were reaching the United States. And rather than walking along the highway and dodging endless numbers of immigration checkpoints, they would most likely have hopped a freight train heading North from the town of Arriaga...but frequent raids like this one by Mexican immigration officials, has made that option increasingly difficult. Title: San Pedro Sula, Honduras Buses arrive outside the processing center in San Pedro. Security raises barricades around the doors as young people pile off the bus. Brent walking with the processing center Director. Director: The process begins here, the buses park out by the gate, and everyone passes thru here to the cafeteria where we feed them. Broll of buses arriving at EDEN, migrants getting off of buses and putting possessions in lockers. VO: One after another the buses pull into this government run shelter in San Pedro Sula. They are coming from the Southern state of Chiapas, in Mexico, and are carrying hundreds of young Hondurans, all caught and deported by Mexican authorities, as they were trying to move up through the country on their way to the United States. Cut to interview with Director of EDEN Center. Director: The area around the Southern border with Mexico is teeming with transit security. We find that we have a significant flow of migrants who have repeatedly attempted the journey. Kids see doctor, fingerprinted, mingle in courtyard etc. VO: The kids, as young as 13, and most of whom were traveling alone or with a small group of friends, are fingerprinted by child services, offered medicine and food if they want it, and released to a parent or relative. A young boy and his mother stand outside the walls of EDEN center. Brent: The Mexican police, they caught you? Boy: Yes, the mexican authorities Brent: Why do you want him to go to the United States? Mother: I’m afraid of what will happen if he’s here, because they are recruiting minors. Fixer: Who is recruiting minors? Mother: The gangs Brent: So you’re afraid that he might join a gang. Is it worth the risk and all the danger that it takes to get to the United States? Mother: Yes... I don’t think it’s worth the risk, but there’s no other option. Cut to interview with another teenager who was on the bus Brent: How many times have to tried to go to the United States? Teen: Four times Brent: Four times you’ve tried to go to the United States. Do you think you’ll try again? Teen: The truth is, “Yes“, because there are no jobs here and we don’t have opportunities to develop ourselves. Cuts to driving fast down dirt road in bad neighborhood. Cuts to Brent sitting in the car. Fixer: Can you put the camera down Brent: Yeah Brent puts down the camera. Fixer: I really don’t feel comfortable doing this right now. Brent re-adjusts the camera from the seat below. Car continues down the road. Cut to Brent riding inside car. Then more broll of windows going down and driving down the road. Fixer: I don’t like this. Brent: We’re on our way to visit this family that is in hiding here, three teenagers. But it’s a really sketchy neighborhood they asked us to take our windows down so that the gangs can see us and know that at least we don’t have guns. Cuts to Brent entering family’s home. Brent: Hola. How old are you? Kid 1: 16 Kid 2: 15 Brent: You came off the bus from Mexico? Kid 1: Yes Brent: Were you trying to go to the United States, is that what you were trying to do? Kid 2: Yes, because my mother was kidnapped by gang members. She was forced to work as a sex slave for them. The police came in and took a few of them to jail. We thought they’d give us witness protection, but they didn’t give us anything, so we decided to flee to the United States. But we didn’t make it. Brent: You know there’s a lot of kids like you in the United States, who made it all the way to the United States. Many of them are telling stories like yours. They say they’re afraid to come back here because it’s dangerous and they could be killed by the gangs. Some people in the United States don’t believe them, what do you say about that. Kid 1: Nobody makes the journey for the hell of it. Kid 2: We spent every dime we have trying to make it to the U.S. Brent: Are you hiding from the gang now? Are you worried about your lives? Kid 2: Yes. Brent: And what will happen if they find you? Kid 1: They’ll kill us. Cut to Gustavo and his friends praying then leaving the shelter to head further North... VO: Back in Mexico, as Gustavo and his friends prepare to leave the safety of the migrant shelter, they say a prayer for safe passage through Mexico and a new life in the United States Gustavo: There is much more immigration, right now. Previously, there were maybe two Immigration checkpoints, and now there are many more. Now they’ve stepped up security because of all the migrants going to the U.S. They don’t want us, but we’re struggling for the future of our families. SO that’s why we migrate.