By Griselda Jaimes
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.— Reports say thousands of migrants are headed to the U.S. border in a caravan mostly full of women and children.
Jani, a mother of two, fleed her home country El Salvador due to the corruption and violence within the country.
“There is a lot of theft in the markets. If you go to the markets you have to be careful, you can’t walk with any jewel, with a chain, can’t wear earrings, you can not use anything because they take it away,” said Jani.
Poverty factors in on their decision to travel to the north. They believe the United States offers work and money.
“One thinks you come to the U.S. to earn money, like they told me one day, you’re going to the streets of gold, I said, ‘oh that’s great, I am going to the golden streets’ and I believe that I was going to be better of here,” Jani explained. But many don’t know the struggles they will face in the U.S.
“Here you struggle, here you work, here you endure hunger, here your sleepless, here you sacrifice everything. You sacrifice your family who you left behind,” said Jani.
Her daughter, Katherinne, explains some of the struggles she had to face while living in El Salvador.
“They don’t let us exceed, they don’t let us work, there are two types of gangs, the MS and the 18, and if I live where the MS rules, I can not work where 18 rules, because they first tell me I can no longer enter their territory and if I keep going they will kill me,” said Katherinne.
Katherinne’s biggest dream is to continue her education.
According to the american immigration council, over 40-thousand citizens in Arkansas live with at least one family member who is undocumented. The top countries of origin for immigrants are Mexico, El Salvador, India and China.