Report: Officials Will Speed Up 'The Beast' to Deter Illegals

Mexican officials will reportedly speed up “The Beast” to deter migrants from hopping on and off.

Thousands of migrants have risked life and limb by jumping on “The Beast,” the so-called “Death Train” or “La Bestia,” in Southern Mexico to begin what they hope is the final leg of their journey to the U.S.-Mexico border. As Breitbart Texas has reported, children who have tried to jump on “The Beast” have lost arms and legs. 

In recent months, “La Bestia” has even derailed, stranding thousands. 

“The idea is to refurbish the railway and to make investments … so that also the speed of the train can be increased and then the likelihood of people climbing (on or off) the train will be largely diminished,” Sergio Alcocer, “Mexico’s deputy foreign minister responsible for the United States and Canada,” told Reuters.

Mexico was scheduled to revamp its southern railroads by 2018, according to Reuters, but that may get accelerated due to the migrant crisis.

In the meantime, Mexican authorities are starting to raid areas where migrants are known to hop on the freight train. According to Reuters, Javier Soto, an unemployed migrant from Honduras who has tried to sneak into the United States before, “and fellow migrants,” were taken by surprise by “pickups carrying immigration agents and police” in Mexico, “sending them running off into the night.” They were attempting “to hitch a ride on the train in Arriaga.” It was reportedly the “second raid there in under a week.”