Voices on the move

All I want is to work and lead a dignified life with my family.

I’m a 24-year-old man from Venezuela. I left my country in 2020, bringing with me my wife, my two young daughters and my sister-in-law. We spent a few years in Colombia. Work there was scarce, things were difficult. In November 2024, I made the decision to cross the Darién Gap to get to the United States. That was a total nightmare. Nobody should take this route. When we entered Panama, they treated us like criminals and we experienced a lot of xenophobia. It was awful, it hurts just talking about it.

Thank God, despite all the hardship, there was also help from kind people. It’s good, because the journey is full of dangers and unknowns. People rob you and take advantage of your vulnerability.

As a father, I want to be able to provide for my family. Everything I do is for them, and many migrants are like me.

We travelled through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and the south of Mexico. In each of these places, I had to beg on the street, which was sad and made me feel ashamed. As a father, I want to be able to provide for my family. Everything I do is for them, and many migrants are like me.

In Mexico, we were robbed. It was terrible. We know many people were abused and others disappeared. Like in Panama, they treated us like criminals, there was a lot of xenophobia. Initially, the local immigration authorities helped us, but then they just abandoned us on the streets in Villahermosa, so we lived like that for about a week.

Going back was painful, but after the new Trump policies, I knew I had to leave or risk mass deportation.

Eventually, after many struggles, we arrived in Mexico City. I worked there for a while and managed to earn some money, but because I couldn’t get an appointment through the CBP One app, I had no other choice but to return. Going back was painful, but after the new Trump policies, I knew I had to leave or risk mass deportation. What they’re doing to Venezuelans now is inhumane, putting them in high-security prisons and treating migrants like criminals.

After leaving Mexico, we arrived at the Costa Rican border and stayed at a shelter there for about five days. There’s a Migration Office nearby, so we booked an appointment to apply for asylum in Costa Rica. We ran out of money, and I couldn’t find work anywhere. My phone was also stolen. I ended up selling my daughter’s phone just to pay for the bus to Ciudad Quesada.

We arrived there at night and had to beg outside a supermarket. We collected around CRC 12,000 to CRC 13,000 (approximately USD 25), enough to buy dinner for the kids, but we had to sleep on the street. Then we headed to Alajuela, near San José. A man offered to let us stay in an abandoned house but, sadly, he ended up stealing from us.

After that, we went to San José and took a bus to Cartago. We slept on the street in Cartago too, and begged for food. I was robbed again. So we returned to San José and asked for help at a shelter. And thank God, that’s where we are now, after being on the move for four months. I’ve been here for around 15 days, and I made an appointment for refugee status as soon as I arrived because I want to sort out my paperwork, leave everything behind and move forward.

I want to stabilise my family, enrol my daughters in school… That’s all I want.

I’m doing my best to get my asylum appointment brought forward because I really want to work. I want to stabilise my family, enrol my daughters in school. That’s all I want.

I don’t necessarily want to settle in San José, I just want to find a job in Costa Rica because it has one of the stronger currencies of South America and more job opportunities. But again, without papers, it’s very difficult. If I don’t receive my asylum documents, I’ll have to continue my journey, possibly to Chile, Peru, somewhere like that. Venezuela? No. It’s just not liveable there anymore.

People don’t know what migrants go through and they make our lives miserable.

There’s a lot of xenophobia towards migrants. People don’t know what migrants go through and they make our lives miserable. Some of us deal with trauma, loss and mental health issues because of xenophobia. Others lose their lives. I think people should have more compassion for migrants. Sure, if we want to stay, we need to legalise our status and get our documents sorted, and that’s what I’m trying to do. That’s what I want most – just to work, to get my family stable, to build a dignified life for us.

People will always migrate. Migrants will always exist in this world. It’s not just about economic hardship. People migrate because of politics, extortion, kidnapping, robbery, threats – sometimes from gangs, sometimes from governments. One way or another, people will find a way to generate money, either to settle or to continue travelling.

If you don’t want to see migrants begging in the street, then let them work.

I wish governments could remove the restrictions that stop undocumented migrants from working. If you don’t want to see migrants begging in the street, then let them work. I want people to understand that migration is very hard and complex. Migrating from your country is an awful nightmare. You’re exposed to different climates and you risk your life without knowing what lies ahead. You’ll encounter people with bad intentions, just as you might meet kind ones. But you’re always exposed – to death, even. There are people who might hate you just for how you look. The only real security you have is God’s blessing. You never know what will happen, or where you’ll end up, because the journey is so unpredictable.