Alicia Valdez Ambriz peeks out from a renovated train car along the tracks in Ecatepec where she makes her home with her family. A freight train known as “the beast” ferries Central Americans northward to the U.S. border -- a 1,200-mile journey across Mexico that is fraught with danger. (Sarah Meghan Lee / For The Times)
The train tracks pass through an impoverished neighborhood where residents offer the migrants food, clothing and even a chance to take a bath. (Sarah Meghan Lee / For The Times)
Officer Patricio Salgado Garcia steps into the empty safe house designed to give passing migrants secure shelter. Thousands of undocumented Hondurans, Guatemalans, Salvadorans and others pass through Ecatepec each year. For Ecatepec, migration is not a criminal act,” says Mayor Jose Luis Gutierrez. (Sarah Meghan Lee / For The Los Angeles Times)
