Updated 05:03 AM EDT, Fri, Mar 29, 2024

Border Agents Record Hit Song to Warn Undocumented Immigrants About Dangers of Travel

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In the fight against the immigration crisis at U.S. borders, the government has employed a strange new tactic to deter would-be travelers from Central America: a song about 'La Bestia.' And apparently, the tune itself is pretty catchy.

Flip on any radio song in Central America and you're bound to hear "La Bestia," a song by Spanish singer Eddie Ganz. Listeners in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are requesting the tune en masse, and it can be caught on about 21 different channels.

The song, coined after the "Death Train" that many immigrants take on the harrowing journey from Central American borders through Mexico, is meant to deter would-be immigrants from boarding the train.

Debilitating or fatal accidents, kidnappings, and murders are all real risks associated with travel on the Beast, and the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents are banking on the song -- which they devised -- to spread the word.

The Mexican freight train is the main route in which Central American immigrants travel through Mexico. They are loaded on top of the train, and the multi-day journey is a risky one, with derailments and gang activity running rampant.

American authorities are now hoping that with Ganz's help, they can spread the word to Central Americans about the dangers of the train.

“Migrants from everywhere, entrenched along the rail ties/Far away from where they come, further away from where they go,” the lyrics go. “They call her the Beast from the South, this wretched train of death/With the devil in the boiler, whistles, roars, twists and turns."

This is not the first time that the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has employed music as a route for spreading the word on the dangers of undocumented immigration. Another song called “No Mas Cruces,” was released in 2004 to discourage border crossings, which reportedly helped decrease the number of crossings in the years after.

“It’s more important to us that the message be delivered,” Laurel Smith, director of communications and outreach for CBP told The Daily Beast. “We want to make sure the audience is listening.”

Creative director Rodolfo Hernandez, of the D.C.-based advertising agency Elevation, coordinated with CBP and wrote the lyrics for “La Bestia.”

New York City musician Carlo Nicolau composed the music and Mr. Ganz, a wedding singer, provided the vocals.

“I thought I was really going to bed with the devil,” said Mr. Nicolau, who was born of Mexican parents. “I’d heard from many people that some of these Border Patrol agents are pretty shrewd. But I’ve learned that a lot of them are risking their lives to help people not die.

“I really think that putting music to this message makes it very powerful, because people listen to the radio in their towns and their villages,” he told The Daily Beast. “The songs don’t accuse anyone of wrongdoing, there are no heroes or villains in these stories. They are just letting people know that their lives are in danger.”

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