I was reminded of this film recently while reading a book
called Enrique's Journey. However
nerve- wracking it is to watch the little boy in the movie make his way across
the border, it is even more devastating to read the true stories of children
trying to find their mothers in Sonia Nazario's book.
Enrique's mother left to find work in the US when he was
five. Now that he is a teenager, Enrique decides to travel from Honduras to
North Carolina to find her. With no money, he travels through Mexico by riding
on the tops of freight trains. Not only must he dodge immigration authorities,
he also must evade thieves, gangs, and local police. Going days without food or
sleep, he must be constantly alert to the dangers of the tracks- tree branches,
derailment, and tunnels. If not, he risks broken bones, severed limbs, or
death.
Nazario, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, retraces the trip that Enrique and scores of other
children attempt in their efforts to reach the US. In heartbreaking detail, she
describes the mothers' dilemma in leaving their children, the harrowing train
rides of those who set out to find family, and the generosity of the citizens
and churches who shelter and feed the children along the way. These are stories
you won't easily forget.
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