Undocumented Immigrants: Faces Of The Displaced

IXTEPEC, MEXICO - AUGUST 05: Cuban immigrant Reudys Almaval Ortiz, 26, spends another day at the Hermanos en el Camino immigrant shelter on August 5, 2013 in Ixtepec, Mexico. He said had received Cuban government permission to fly to Ecuador for vacation, at which point he defected from Cuba and traveled overland through Central America to Mexico in his quest to reach the United States. He has been staying at the immigrant shelter in Ixtepec for a month while waiting for Mexican immigration officials to issue him authorization to travel through the country legally and safely by bus to the U.S. Border, where Cuban citizens are given legal assylum as refugees into the United States. He hopes to live in New York City and possibly find work as a bartender. Thousands of migrants ride atop the trains, known as 'la bestia', or the beast, during their long and perilous journey through Mexico towards the U.S border. Many of them are robbed, raped or othewise assaulted by gangs who control the train tops, while others fall asleep and tumble down, losing limbs or perishing under the wheels of the trains. Cubans say they run an additional risk of kidnapping on the trains, as gangs believe the Cubans have access to ransom money from family members in the United States. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)