In Managua, Amir met with the crew of Pedro, who guide most of the West Africans to Honduras. There, a woman named Sara takes over.
After crossing into Mexico, he was arrested five times, he says. He spent three nights in a cell and had to buy his freedom again and again – from the cartels, the police, the military.
Migration is a business. And the only one who loses money is Amir. It took him 1.5 months and $5,000 to reach the U.S. border. That's almost 12 times the average monthly income in Mauritania.
The book he had with him was stolen somewhere in Mexico, along with all his other possessions.