Mexican immigration officials are ramping up control on illegal immigrants from Central America by pulling them off of trains passing through southern areas of Mexico, reports state.

As a result, Central American migrants hoping to improve the lives of their families by crossing the border to the United States have taken on a dangerous route, avoiding urban areas and hiking into the woods and jungles to evade Mexican officials rounding up migrants and detaining them.

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Reports state that around 6,000 migrants have already been pulled off trains and officials have said they will not allow migrants to board the northbound freight trains.

Prior to the roundups, the southern city of Arriaga bustled with energy, full of migrants who would stay at cheap motels and shelters, awaiting their chance to hop on the freight trains.

Now, the city of about 40,000 people looks like a ghost town, with migrants fleeing the urban area and redirecting their journey into the woods where they face more danger from animal attacks and police brutality.

Federal official Humberto Mayans said they will continue rounding up the migrants and pulling them off the trains which they call "The Beast."

The Mexican Interior Department said that the migrants were from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador and that they had all been returned to their countries.

Mexican officials explained that the roundups were for the migrants' safety as they can fall off the trains or come in contact with criminal gangs responsible for rapes and killings while riding "The Beast."

Allegedly, migrants don't believe this to be true and have stated that being pulled from trains isn't for their own safety.

Manuel Villalta, 31, a migrant from El Salvador, said he wanted to return to his former job in a meatpacking plant in the US. In order to avoid immigration police, he has detoured into the woods, but claims his current condition is not safe as he and others have to resort to drinking infected water.

Like the rest of the migrant-campers, Villalta plans on hopping onboard the moving train as it slows down at a curve, a move which is much more dangerous than boarding at a stop.

He also stated that nothing, not even detention, will stop him from crossing the border in an attempt to seek out a better life in the U.S.

TagsMexico, Immigrants, Central America, The Beast, mexico trains, freight trains, illegal immigration