“And the kidnappings?” A migrant comes over to us, and picks up his backpack, which sits on our table. Ismael looks at him out of the corner of his eye. He waits to respond until the man leaves. “It started as something against the polleros who didn’t pay. They’d take away their pollitos, their little chicks, and since they already had them in their hands they figured they’d go ahead and get a ransom from their families in the US through a fast deposit from Western Union. And then it got to be a habit. They started picking up any migrant who walked alone.” “When did all this start?” “We
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