At least 7 Muslims win election to Congress, a record

(RNS) — Their election wins come amid an increasingly hostile political environment for Muslim American candidates.

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks at an election night event, early Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Ulaa Kuziez
November 4, 2026 at 3:45 p.m. ET

(RNS) — A record seven Muslims were elected to Congress, six to the House of Representatives and one to the Senate.

Early Wednesday (Nov. 4), Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive Michigan Democrat, made history as the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. The son of Egyptian immigrants and a former public health official, the 42-year-old was repeatedly scrutinized and attacked for his faith. President Donald Trump labeled him a “jihadist” and claimed, without evidence, that El-Sayed was on the side of Muslim terrorist groups.

“Islamophobia backfired,” said Fatima Salman, a close childhood friend of El-Sayed who fundraised and campaigned for him. “Today is a day of joy, of celebration, and we need that moment because we have been under so much pressure for so long.”

Incumbent Democrats André Carson of Indiana’s 7th district, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota’s 5th district, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan’s 12th district and Lateefah Simon of California’s 12th district all secured reelection to the House. Two Democrats, Dr. Adam Hamawy in New Jersey’s 12th district and Darializa Avila Chevalier of New York’s 13th district won election for the first time. Aisha Wahab, a Democrat elected to Congress in an August special election, is leading in the race to secure a full term in California’s 14th district. As of 3:42 PM, AP has not called the race. If she wins, the final tally of Muslims in Congress would rise to eight.

Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s Democratic attorney general, in 2006 was the first Muslim elected to Congress. He left Congress after being elected Minnesota’s attorney general in 2018. The previous high for Muslims serving in Congress at once was five.

Drawn to Judaism but not converting: Noahide confab seeks to create a new global identity

Drawn to Judaism but not converting: Noahide confab seeks to create a new global identity

International gathering in Jerusalem brings together non-Jews who follow the seven Noahide laws to establish shared identities, institutions and communities

By Zev Stub 6 November 2026, 9:51 am

Participants at the First International Congress of Noahides in Jerusalem, November 3, 2026. (Bruno Sharvit)

Solia Centeno de Baglivo says her spiritual search began when she was five years old.

Today a lawyer and mother of two in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, she was raised in a Catholic home but always harbored religious doubts. During the COVID pandemic, she began connecting strongly to Jewish philosophy, but converting to Judaism wasn’t an option.

“Talk of converting put a strain on my marriage, and the political climate in Bolivia made that path very difficult,” Centeno told The Times of Israel, speaking through a translator. “There was a lot of social disapproval.”

But online research led her to the Noahide World Center, an organization that seeks to unite non-Jews dedicated to living according to the Torah’s universal principles. With the agreement of her husband — and her father’s deathbed wish for her to follow her own path — she declared herself a Noahide and began teaching others. Today, she has helped develop a community of 40 Noahides in Bolivia, and is working to spread the word to others.

Centeno was in Jerusalem in early November for a conference dedicated to people like her — the First International Congress of Noahides, held by the Brit Olam organization on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Some 50 self-identified Noahides from around the world came together at the Seven Arches Hotel to connect and debate how to create a global community with common practices and identity. The Times of Israel attended a reception open to Jewish guests.

“People today need an entire world of spiritual morality and behavior, and that can only come from the Torah in Zion,” said Brit Olam chairman Rabbi Oury Cherki, explaining the movement’s mission. “We are now collaborating in our love of God to build a better world together.”

Boycott of Jewish-owned businesses sparks clashes in Philadelphia

 

Strong earthquake shakes Japan, shattering store windows and injuring at least 22

By Associated Press
Published Nov. 8, 2026, 3:30 a.m. ET


A strong earthquake shook central Japan early Sunday, shattering store windows, causing people to flee buildings and leaving at least 22 people injured, according to local media.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency put the quake’s magnitude at 5.7, while the U.S. Geological Survey reported it at magnitude 5.5. Smaller aftershocks were reported.

A wide area near Aichi Prefecture was affected, including the city of Hamamatsu, the ancient capitals of Kyoto and Nara and nearby prefectures of Yamanashi, where Mount Fuji is located, as well as Gifu.

Shattered windows line a car dealership after a strong earthquake in Toyohashi, Aichi prefecture, Japan, on Nov. 8, 2026./Kyodo News via AP

Pope arrives in Argentina and tells Milei that people, not the economy, should come first

You’re Not Ready for What’s Coming (And That’s Okay)

 

The Vatican’s Secret History: What They Hid From the Books | Chris Pinto

The Vatican’s Secret History: What They Hid From the Books | Chris Pinto

The Ryan Files

Jul 24, 2026  ✪ Members first on July 18, 2026  THE RYAN FILES EPISODES

Welcome to Part 2 of our exclusive interview with Christian filmmaker Chris Pinto of Adullam Films on The Ryan Files. In this second half, Chris continues to connect the dots between hidden history, Jesuit influence, globalism, the push for a one world religion, and Bible prophecy. If you thought Part 1 was eye-opening, tonight's episode dives even deeper into historical records, geopolitical subversion, and how ancient warnings are playing out in our world today. 

We explore the Vatican's historical influence on global intelligence networks, the origin of the "social justice" doctrine, the secret history behind the Lincoln and JFK assassinations, and what the Bible says about the rising globalist agenda in the Book of Revelation.

“The Global Capital of Protestantism” — Peter Thiel Recruits Nashville Against Pope Leo XIV

“The Global Capital of Protestantism” — Peter Thiel Recruits Nashville Against Pope Leo XIV

In a secretly recorded lecture, JD Vance’s top donor called the Catholic Church a dubious ally and told Nashville to fight. Fifteen days later, Catholics swung 21 points and voters sided with Leo.

Christopher Hale

Nov 06, 2026

Peter Thiel called Nashville “arguably the global capital of Protestantism” during an Oct. 19 lecture at the city’s Masonic Temple. (Letters from Leo photo illustration with an AI-generated skyline)

Thank you for reading! Letters from Leo is a reader-supported publication and the fastest-growing Catholic community in the country. To receive new posts and support this movement, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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Peter Thiel saved his last word for the city that hosted him.

Closing the fourth and final night of his Antichrist lectures at Nashville’s Masonic Temple on Oct. 19, the billionaire who bankrolled JD Vance’s political and professional career told the crowd that people kept asking him why he had come to Nashville at all. In that question, he said, he heard “a mild inferiority complex.”

“I want to shake you out of that,” Thiel told them.

He then handed the city a mission. Nashville, Thiel said, was “arguably the global capital of Protestantism” and “the center of a place with no center.” He told them not to leave “finance, technology, and politics to other people in other cities.” “And if you give up on the battle of ideas,” he added, “you will simply lose.”

His closing order was blunt: “get over your inferiority complex and fight.”

We know what Thiel said because someone in the hall taped it, and Nashville’s top reporter got hold of it.

Source 

The return of the religious Left

The return of the religious Left

Progressive Christians are turning doubts over Republicans’ moral credentials into electoral gains

Poppy Wood US Correspondent, in Austin, Texas

Published 08 November 2026 11:58am GMT


When James Talarico took to the stage as Texas’s first Democratic senator since 1988, he asked his audience to remember “that story from scripture of a shepherd boy who goes up against a giant”.


The trainee pastor, who swept to victory on Tuesday night, said Americans could also learn a few lessons from “a barefoot rabbi” who lived 2,000 years ago. Staff members congregating around him on stage waved signs saying: “Love thy neighbour.”

Faith will move mountains, so the Bible says. And, as it turns out, it will also move the electorate.

For decades, religion in the US has been seen as the preserve of the Right, with Republicans traditionally viewed as the party of Christian values – particularly among evangelicals. But a suite of significant wins for religious Democrats in this year’s midterms suggests that may be about to change.

Five clergy members and pastors-in-training were elected to Congress for the Democrats on Tuesday. Alongside Mr Talarico were Adam Hamilton, a Methodist mega church pastor elected as senator of Kansas, and Sarah Trone Garriott, a Lutheran minister voted in as a congresswoman in Iowa.

Democrat James Talarico, a trainee pastor, flipped the Senate seat in Texas Credit: Getty /Brandon Bell

Satisfying Answers | Maranatha: The Lord Is Coming - November 9

 

Globalists’ Climate Grift Returns In Full Force

Big Tent Ideas

Globalists’ Climate Grift Returns In Full Force

OPINION

United Nations Shutterstock/Julie Pop

Craig Rucker

President, Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow

October 28, 20269:15 AM ET

America has walked out of the UN climate racket. The rest of the world hasn’t gotten the message.

Next month, some 100,000 politicians, bureaucrats, functionaries, activists and other grifters will descend on Antalya, Turkey (COP folks prefer Türkiye) for COP31, the UN’s annual climate Conference of the Parties. They will fly in, talk endlessly, and enjoy the best hotels, food, beverages, and hospitality Recep Tayyip Erdoğan can offer. Then they’ll fly home having plotted how to pry trillions more out of whatever wealthy nations are still willing to pay.

Even now, after real-world scientific, energy, and economic realities have bashed the UN’s fraudulent science, garbage-in/garbage-out climate models, anti-fossil-fuel activism, and renewable energy fantasies, climate crisis assertions still dominate news cycles, policy, and spending.

Türkiye will serve as a “bridge” between developed and developing countries. Co-host Australia will push global “clean energy acceleration” — the very policies that are crippling its own citizens’ energy reliability, jobs, economy, and living standards.

Like COP30, this will be an “implementation” conference, focused on turning existing commitments into “investment-ready projects,” especially by browbeating reluctant, once-wealthy nations into financing it all with trillions more dollars. The agenda hasn’t changed: “clean” energy, electrifying everything that now runs on “evil” fossil fuels, slashing methane and (plant-fertilizing) carbon dioxide emissions, and a new “Climate Implementation Bridge” to turn plans into projects, which, by the COP31 president’s own admission, comes with no new funding to pay for those projects.

COP31 Begins: What’s at Stake at the UN Climate Summit?

COP31 Begins: What’s at Stake at the UN Climate Summit?

United Nations

Nov 8, 2026 

The UN climate summit, COP31, is underway in Antalya, Türkiye from 9 to 20 November 2026.  

World leaders, negotiators, activists, scientists, business leaders, Indigenous Peoples, and civil society will come together to confront one of the defining challenges of our time: climate change.

UN Climate Change Conferences (or COPs) take place every year, and are they are the only decision-making forum where the world comes together to agree on the actions to address the climate crisis, such as limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, helping vulnerable communities adapt to the effects of climate change, and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. 

The Misuse of René Girard by Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance and the American Right

From Philosophy to Power:
The Misuse of René Girard by Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance and the American Right

By Paul Leslie

The Misuse of René Girard by Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance and the American Right

René Girard's Legacy

This past summer, I was surprised to encounter a face I knew in two most unexpected places. The first was in a photo montage accompanying an article written by Josh Kovensky of Talking Points Memo in the wake of J.D. Vance becoming the Vice Presidential nominee, entitled “A Journey Through the Authoritarian Right.” Arranged in the collage among images of a ripped man with lasers shooting from his eyes, of anti-democracy blogger Curtis Yarvin, and of Peter Thiel rubbing Benjamins between his thumb and forefinger, was my former professor and friend from Stanford University, René Girard. I was in France at the time; mere hours after reading Kovensky’s piece, I saw through the window of a taxi René’s face again—this time in the form of a larger-than-life decal on a light rail car in Avignon, where as it happens he is one of a dozen local heroes permanently celebrated on the new transit system. What do the medieval, culturally-rich, Provençal city of Avignon and the American authoritarian right have in common? Both claim a bond with this influential philosopher and member of L’Académie Française, who died in 2015. Only one of the claims is legitimate. The misappropriation of Girard’s ideas by the American right is not just a matter of academic concern; it has significant implications for our political discourse and society.

As it turns out, I know exactly where this illegitimate claim to Girard’s legacy started. For several years in the 1990s, I was part of a small reading group that met bi-weekly on the Stanford campus in a trailer left over from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The group—a kaleidoscope of visiting scholars, a few former students and some of Girard’s campus friends—was led by Girard himself, and though he was already an influential thinker at the time, and though his theories and ideas pervaded our discussions and were the reason we gathered, one member of that intimate group of ten or so has gone on to eclipse Girard in terms of visibility and political influence: Peter Thiel.

That Thiel participated in this study group has been noted in a small subset of the countless articles that reference his connection to Girard. Journalists, podcasters, and young entrepreneurs alike have hoped to find in Thiel’s acknowledged devotion to Girard’s work a master key that, properly handled, could unlock the mystery of Thiel and explain everything from his success as a venture capitalist to his 2016 endorsement of Donald Trump. That some wannabe billionaires have ordered Violence and the Sacred or Deceit, Desire and the Novel from Amazon and scanned its chapters in search of an “open sesame” to affluence is as surreal a proposition as it is doubtless something that actually occurs—the aspiring mogul’s equivalent of clicking on one of those “one weird trick” links that promise a hack to making money and improving your health.

Peter Thiel, Freemasonry, the Jesuits & the Antichrist | Chris Pinto & Carl Teichrib

 Peter Thiel, Freemasonry, the Jesuits & the Antichrist | Chris Pinto & Carl Teichrib

Brannon Howse

Oct 14, 2026

Peter Thiel, Freemasonry, the Jesuits & the Antichrist | Chris Pinto & Carl Teichrib

Church Leaders Weaken Health Reform Message - A Purifying Message Part 2 - Ivan Plummer

Steps to Life

Nov 8, 2026  Campmeeting 2026

I would like to study with you is how Satan has used church leaders to weaken the confidence of the members in the health reform message that by these leaders disdain for the message the health reform message and their ungodly communication concerning this wonderful message. The church members feel no urgency or necessity for accepting and obeying this important truth. Begin by reading a few passages from the word of God. 

Newsom Commutes All 548 Death Sentences in California

The governor altered the sentences of people facing the death penalty to lifetime imprisonment without parole.

By Chris Walker , Truthout

Published

November 6, 2026

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) at a campaign event on October 17, 2026 in Nashua, New Hampshire.ohn Tully / Getty Images

Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a quick donation.

On Thursday, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the commutation of 548 death sentences, reducing the sentence of everyone on the state’s death row to life without parole.

California has more people sentenced to capital punishment than any other state, but for years there has been a moratorium on carrying out the death penalty. Newsom’s action ensures that the moratorium is permanent for those 548 individuals.

The action doesn’t abolish the death penalty in the state, meaning that future convictions could result in death sentences. It also commutes all capital punishment sentences to lifetime imprisonment without the possibility of parole, a move that ensures these individuals will still face death by incarceration.

But the move is being praised as a step in the right direction — one that could result in other states following suit.

Newsom said that he made the decision to commute the sentences of everyone on death row “because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes each of us.”

“I have decided to commute every death sentence,” he said.

Do The Jesuits Control The Deep State?

Note: 

 I do not promote the SkyWatchTV ads, or agree with the opinions expressed by the panel. But, I do concur with Chris Pinto's disclosure of facts about the Jesuit Order.

 

 Do The Jesuits Control The Deep State?

SkyWatchTV

Sep 13, 2026

How much influence have the Jesuits had on American history—and does that influence continue today?

In Part 2 of this fascinating three-part series, Joe Horn continues his conversation with award-winning filmmaker and historian Chris Pinto about his documentary, American Jesuits: A History of Jesuitism in the United States.

Together they explore historical claims surrounding the Jesuit Order's presence in America, examining their role from the earliest colonies through pivotal moments in U.S. history. The discussion also looks at the relationship between religion, politics, medicine, and ideology, asking whether connections exist that many people have never considered.

In this episode you'll discover:

• Why many early Protestants viewed the Jesuits as a significant influence in the New World 

• The historical context surrounding the American Revolution, Abraham Lincoln, and the Civil War 

• Claims regarding Jesuit influence on education, politics, and medicine 

• Discussions involving Karl Marx, Adolf Hitler, and other controversial historical figures 

• Why Chris Pinto believes these overlooked historical connections deserve renewed attention 

Whether you agree with these conclusions or are hearing these ideas for the first time, this conversation offers a thought-provoking look at one of history's most debated religious orders and its alleged impact on America.

Get Your "Chris Pinto American Jesuits Special Offer "Here!

https://www.skywatchtvstore.com/colle...

‘Bloodshed Will Occur’: Muslims Use Threats, Protests And Paperwork To Keep Christians From Building Churches

Christians in Indonesia face an underreported pattern of threats and protests as radical Islamists weaponize bureaucratic red tape to stop them from practicing their faith, even in private residences.

Though reporting is largely limited to citizen journalists and small Christian publications, a review of reported incidents reveals a tried-and-true method used to repress Christians in the world’s most populous Islamic nation, despite religious freedom being guaranteed by law. 

While the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia guarantees “all persons the freedom of worship, each according to his/her own religion or belief,” heavy permitting requirements make it increasingly difficult for religious minorities to establish places of public worship. This gives hostile groups of Muslims an opportunity to stop Christians from practicing their faith.

Fredrik J. Pinakunary, chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Indonesian Christian Legal Society, told the Daily Caller that while established minority communities, such as Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists, remain relatively peaceful and secure, “friction typically flares around two specific flashpoints: applying for and constructing new places of worship, and holding non-routine religious gatherings outside registered sanctuaries—such as residential prayer meetings, or special holiday gatherings.”

For Christians, these flashpoints can leave them with two choices: apply for a permit and endure years of red tape while facing continual protests, or hold small worship and prayer services that risk being interrupted by threats of violence. Those threats often end in local meetings that let the person making them off the hook while the church is forced to suspend services.

“If you don’t close it, bloodshed will occur inside,” a machete-wielding Muslim man, accompanied by a few others, said as he interrupted a prayer service involving approximately 40 Christians in late September, according to Morning Star News. “Yes, I am not afraid to die … For Allah, I am not afraid to die.”

As the congregants fled, the man continued, justifying his outrage by claiming the prayer rooms lacked permits and that he was part of “the majority.”

Despite the threats, the man was not immediately arrested. Instead, he met with community leaders, where he offered his “deepest apologies.” The meeting initially resulted in an agreement to take no legal action, but the settlement later collapsed after officials ordered the prayer house closed, according to Morning Star News.

Abdul El-Sayed Won His Senate Seat With a Mandate on Palestine. Can He Deliver?

The new senator from Michigan will face an uphill battle if he wants to transform the U.S. relationship with Israel. But he has options — and public pressure.

Jonah Valdez

November 5 2026, 4:28 p.m. ET

Abdul El-Sayed speaks to the press after an event in Royal Oak, Mich., on Nov. 2, 2026. Photo: Salwan Georges/Getty Images

One senator out of the 100 who will fill the upper chamber of the 120th Congress was elected to his seat on a loud campaign promise to end U.S. complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Abdul El-Sayed will walk into a newfound Democratic majority after animating his base with pro-Palestine pledges seldom heard from a U.S. Senate contender. As a first-term senator, he’ll lack seniority on the committees to which he’s assigned. And although his critiques of the U.S. relationship with Israel have proven overwhelmingly popular in public opinion surveys and among voters at the polls, the same can’t be said for most of his soon-to-be colleagues.

“It’s going to be a fight,” said Beth Miller, political advocacy director for Jewish Voice for Peace Action, which supported El-Sayed’s campaign. “The Democratic establishment, when it’s in control, has not taken measures in support of Palestine in the past. And so this is about making sure that now they finally start listening to what the overwhelming majority of their bases say.”

El-Sayed’s run marked the first time the Jewish-led, anti-Zionist group backed a Senate campaign. Pro-Palestine lobbying groups like JVP Action have been pushing for legislation to block weapons transfers to Israel for years, aligning themselves with a small but growing number of left-leaning House members. The group helped author the Block the Bombs Act, introduced by Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., which netted 82 co-sponsors and became a pro-Palestine litmus test in some Democratic primary campaigns.

Zohran Mamdani, Kathy Hochul travel to Puerto Rico for annual conference

By Anthony Carlo

Friday, November 6, 2026 6:49PM ET

Anthony Carlo has more on Mayor Mamdani and Gov. Hochul's remarks on Friday.

PUERTO RICO (WABC) -- Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani traveled to Puerto Rico this week, where they joined other elected officials for the annual Somos Conference and discussed support for the U.S. territory following Democrats' midterm election victories.

The two leaders appeared together Tuesday and spoke optimistically about the political landscape following what they described as a Democratic "blue wave."

Mamdani said the election results could create new opportunities for working-class Americans.

"There's a potential in that, that we can finally start to deliver for working class people across this country," said Mamdani.

Hochul said she hopes the federal government will renew its commitment to Puerto Rico.

"It's a whole new day of responsibility of the federal government to Puerto Rico. And what we've seen over the last two years is really an abandonment of that commitment and we hope to have all those wounds heal," said Hochul.

The governor's remarks came after Democrats swept the midterm elections, a result she said would help provide accountability and strengthen support for Puerto Rico.

Hochul and Mamdani were among a group of elected officials attending the annual conference on the island, which has faced challenges including chronic power outages and water shortages.

The governor said Democratic control of Congress could help secure additional resources for Puerto Rico and address immigration enforcement concerns.

Pope Leo XIV Opens Latin America Trip in Uruguay With Call for Health Care for All

Faithful wait for the arrival of Pope Leo XIV in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. Source: AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico

 

By muse

Asiatoday.id – Montevideo. Pope Leo XIV opened his first journey to Latin America as pope in Uruguay on Friday, arriving in Montevideo after a 13-hour flight from Rome and calling for health care that reaches everyone, regardless of their means. Speaking at the Plaza de Independencia before President Yamandú Orsi and other dignitaries, he drew on his own recent illness to press the case for protecting the most vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly. The visit, which runs from November 6 to 17 and will also take him to Argentina and Peru, is the first by a pope to Uruguay since John Paul II visited in 1988.

The pope’s chartered ITA Airways flight touched down at Montevideo-Carrasco International Airport in the afternoon, where he was greeted by young people and welcomed by Orsi. At the welcome ceremony in the Plaza de Independencia, he addressed political and diplomatic representatives, civil society and business leaders before holding a private meeting with the president at the Edificio José Artigas. The mayor of Montevideo also presented him with the key to the city, and he closed the day with a vespers service at the Metropolitan Cathedral alongside bishops, clergy, religious and seminarians.

A Journey Weeks After Surgery

The trip comes just 24 days after the pope underwent surgery on October 13 to remove the lower lobe of his right lung, an operation to treat a localized lung adenocarcinoma. His doctors confirmed the following week that he did not require further oncological treatment, and he told journalists aboard the flight from Rome that he had never doubted the journey should go ahead. He said he felt well, thanked the medical teams who had cared for him, and said faith had given him the strength to face the difficulties of illness.

Asked what advice he would give people facing a cancer diagnosis, he replied, “Not to be afraid.” He urged early detection and regular check-ups, and when asked the secret of his quick recovery, he answered, “Trust in God, good doctors, good surgeons, and overall, a healthy lifestyle.” He added that the experience had given him a sense of commitment to staying close to those who are sick, and said he planned to speak in Uruguay about how health care should be a right for all people.

America’s Second-Largest Protestant Denomination Is Collapsing—And Most Christians Don’t Even Know

The Mystery of Iniquity - The Image, pt. 2 - Elder Mark Cleminson - 11/7/2026

 

- All Things Work Together | Our High Calling - November 8

Caravan of Honduran Migrants Embark for US After Broad Democrat Wins in Midterms

Caravan of Honduran Migrants Embark for US After Broad Democrat Wins in Midterms

New York Post

Nov 4, 2026 

Dozens of Honduran migrants hit the road Tuesday, forming a caravan bound for the US in hopes of a better life. Fleeing unemployment and insecurity back home, the group is making the dangerous trek north in search of new opportunities.