US immigration: The suffocated youth unafraid of a perilous journey

[Judi Lynn]

By Will Grant
BBC News, Nueva Esperanza, Guatemala

Published 6 days ago

It is easy to spot which families in the tiny Guatemalan village of Nueva Esperanza have relatives in the United States. Several ostentatious and brightly coloured houses, paid for with remittances, stand out from the rest of the rudimentary mud-brick shacks in the hamlet.

For Anderson Antulio, who lived in the latter, the extravagant homes were a daily reminder of the potential prize in leaving his impoverished community. He was just 16, one of the tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors who attempt the treacherous journey every year.

Now, however, Anderson has returned to Guatemala in the worst possible way.

His remains were flown back from Mexico in a casket draped in the Guatemalan flag, one of 16 migrants murdered in northern Mexico, just kilometres from the US border, in January. The group were shot and their bodies set alight. A dozen state police officers have been arrested in connection with the grisly attack.

As his family observed the traditional nine days of mourning, local indigenous women sang prayers for his soul in the dirt-floored home he shared with his parents and eight brothers and sisters. His father, Marco Antulio, was still coming to terms with the decision to allow his eldest child to travel on his own but insists he was powerless to stop the boy from pursuing a better life.

More:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56260568

[brer cat]

1. Heartbreaking. nt