stemming immigration to a Caribbean beat
I was wondering what the “Don’t make the illegal trek northward” jingle that the government is promoting below the border would sound like. Now I know.
Launched by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as part of the multi-million dollar “Dangers Awareness Campaign,” the agency arranged for a Spanish song to air discouraging families, particularly from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, from sending undocumented children to the U.S. through Mexico.
The “Dangers Awareness Campaign” is the CBP’s “aggressive” outreach effort to “save and protect lives of migrant children.” According to CBP Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske, the families in the Central American countries need to understand the “treacherous” journey to the U.S.
The big song…
The Daily Beast revealed one media campaign is a song titled “La Bestia,” or “The Beast.” Touted to be a “major hit” in Central America, “La Bestia” includes the troubles people might encounter if they migrate to the U.S. from Mexico including kidnapping, murder, rape and robbery.
Lyrics of the song, translated in English, include: “Migrants from everywhere, entrenched along the rail ties. Far away from where they come, further away from where they 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.”
The Spanish-language song is reportedly sung by Eddie Ganz featuring a Caribbean beat. The song also features a female voiceover stating how the immigration process is not easy, how children are the future and encouraging families to protect them. The idea behind the song, however, has been credited to Rodolfo Hernandez, creative director of advertising agency Elevation.
According to VICE News, three regional-music stations in El Salvador and Honduras stated they have not heard of the song.
Sounds catchy?