In Senegal, Nicaragua has made its way into the popular vocabulary. This small Central American country, unknown to many Senegalese until recently, has become famous since becoming touted as a springboard to the United States. In the village where he works as a secondary school teacher in Bakel, in eastern Senegal, Abdou Talla has noticed several departures among his pupils to this destination in recent months. "The adults left first," he said. In this village, which has a well-established community in France and where "success is achieved through emigration," the traditional route, has been disrupted by the "opening up" of this new itinerary. The trend has taken off, especially as a visa is not required for Nicaragua.
On social media, videos have appeared of groups of Senegalese filming themselves at Dakar Airport, eager to leave with a simple arrival permit. If you follow the profiles of these would-be migrants, you can see them climbing mountains, trekking through the forest, crossing rivers (sometimes at night) and ending their journey with images of skyscrapers in American cities. The success of their journey adds to the numerous videos explaining how to get to the US by this overland route.
Less dangerous than the passage across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe via the Canary Islands, this new path is proving very popular in Senegal. After having three visa applications turned down by the US embassy and an aborted departure due to family pressure, Khadim became interested in this alternative gateway, whose secrets he has now mastered. While he waited to make his "American dream" a reality, the young man recounted how a friend of his arrived in the US on August 26 after a two-week journey, which is an average length.
"Dakar, Casablanca, Madrid, then El Salvador, then from there to Nicaragua," Khadim said, before adding that this series of connecting flights is "the itinerary that's working at the moment." "Tickets are cheaper if you get them early, but it's not a sure thing, as there may be a change [of itinerary]," said Hamidou, one of the organizers of these trips, who would-be migrants call "businessman." Based in the US, he buys the ticket, facilitates his clients' journey from the airport of departure – where corruption allows them to avoid police harassment – and explains the steps to be taken at each stage.
He is also in charge of sending the "pocket money" remitted to the travelers before departure, in small installments, which he distributes along the way to prevent them from being robbed en route. From Nicaragua, the migrants usually continue their journey by bus or in convoys of small vehicles, crossing the borders into Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico with the help of a network of local smugglers and guides, often assisted by Senegalese nationals who act as interpreters.
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