(NewsNation) — Migrants who want to reach the border before President-elect Donald Trump takes office has led to a surge of people boarding a deadly “beast” train that travels near the U.S. border.
The freight train, called “La Bestia” or “The Beast” is infamously known to be one of the deadliest trains in Mexico.
Claudia Rios, a Durango resident living near the train stop, told NewsNation that she’s seen more than 200 people attempt to board the treacherous train in recent days.
“Lately they come very aggressive, like all the good, all the kind migrants have crossed, because in this group that’s coming, they’re fighting among themselves,” she told NewsNation in Spanish.
Rios also said she’s seen an alarming number of children and even people in wheelchairs trying to get on the train. Previously it was mostly adults traveling alone, she said.
The train has no passenger railcars and only carries products north for export. Migrants have been known to ride atop the moving trains, facing physical dangers that range from amputation to death if they fall or are pushed.
They are also subject to extortion and violence at the hands of cartels and gangs that control the routes north, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Authorities have also reported a rise in kidnappings and extortion by cartels who see the migrants as easy money.
Fifteen Vietnamese migrants and a Mexican national were rescued from a ransom kidnapping. In Sonora, Mexico, 36 migrants, mostly from India, were crowded to a house until desperate cries for help brought authorities to the scene.
Mexican officials have launched efforts to stop the rush aboard the train by trying to get those migrants off and into safety. They’re also offering migrants bus rides to the border if they have an appointment with Customs and Border Patrol.
However, sources tell NewsNation it’s impossible to stop every single one of these migrants.
Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott launched his own state efforts to slow down the crossings at the border putting up over 40 billboards in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico warning migrants about the dangers of crossing, especially sexual assault against women and children.
The $100,000 campaign includes warnings written in Spanish, Chinese, Russian and even Arabic.
“This is tough medicine,” Abbott said. “We want no more ‘rape trees’ in Texas. Do not make the dangerous trek to Texas.”
Abbot said one billboard would warn migrants, “Your wife and daughter will pay for their trip with their bodies.”
Abbot also said Texas is excited about President-elect Donald Trump shoring up security along the southern border and he reiterated that mass deportations will happen on “Day 1.”
Abbott said that according to conversations he’s had with Trump, the border barrier will be expanded all along the Southwest border.
With Donald Trump returning to the White House, there is intense interest in how the Republican will carry out his immigration agenda, including a campaign pledge of mass deportations.
