INFAMOUS 2 THE BEAST SERIES

Before, you could call these people migrants with no problem. 'A lot of them are fleeing because the increase in the drug violence and threats, extortion, and that's a different phenomenon. 'A lot of the people are not fleeing because of economic hardship,' says Dannemiller. Most estimates predict more than 60,000 minors will be detained this year alone. border patrol detained around 6,800 undocumented children. Many Beast riders have suffered physical injury or death falling off the train or getting sucked into the wheels trying to board it in motion. 'There are a lot of people who aren't going to make it.'

'People are taking the journey because you do want a better future and you're willing to do whatever takes,' Alvarado says. There's very limited water, and that's a constant, you know.'ДЄlvarado is herself an immigrant from Nicaragua and the only U.S. 'Not only with the sun, but also the water. 'It's tiring being on top of there,' says Alvarado.

INFAMOUS 2 THE BEAST SERIES

Lis-Marie Alvarado, who lives in the Miami suburb of Homestead, rode The Beast last year as part of the Al Jazeera America TV series ' Borderland.' She and five other Americans traced the journey of immigrants who died while making their way to America. 'There's not much room for anyone else to get on board by the time the train pulls out.'ДЄ Central American migrant jumps between cars on a freight train in Mexico's Chiapas state in 2013 during the journey north. 'They're just packed,' says photojournalist Keith Dannemiller, who has lived in Mexico for the better part of three decades. It's estimated that up to a half-million migrants now ride The Beast each year, sitting back-to-back along the spine of the train cars, trying not to get knocked off their rooftop perch. People call the train La Bestia, or The Beast. These aren't passenger trains there are no panoramic windows, seats or even a roof to guard from sun or rain. That prompted President Obama this week to warn of 'an urgent humanitarian situation.' In addition to grain, corn or scrap metal, these trains are carrying an increasing number of undocumented immigrants whose aim is to cross into the U.S.ДЄnd despite the many deadly challenges it poses, more and more children - both with adults and alone - have been making the risky journey. There's a network of freight trains that runs the length of Mexico, from its southernmost border with Guatemala north to the United States. Thousands of migrants ride atop the trains, known as La Bestia, or The Beast, during their long and perilous journey through Mexico to the U.S. Migrants arrive at a rest stop in Ixtepec, Mexico, after a 15-hour ride atop a freight train headed north toward the U.S.

Infamous 2 the beast