In one of the most impressive feats of immigration-related reporting in decades, the Atlantic Magazine’s Caitlin Dickerson details the harrowing trek that immigrants and refugees take through the Darien Gap in the September 2024 issue of the magazine.

Joining Dickerson on her journey were immigrants and refugees from Haiti, Ethiopia, India, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Brazil, Peru, heading north “across the only strip of land that connects South America to Central America,” she notes in her article, “What I Saw in the Darien Gap.”

Her reporting brings the reader into an immersive experience where one lives the journey in all of its terrifying moments.

“I went to the Darién Gap in December with the photographer Lynsey Addario because I wanted to see for myself what people were willing to risk to get to the United States,” writes Dickerson.

“Crossing the jungle can take three days or 10, depending on the weather, the weight of your bags, and pure chance. A minor injury can be catastrophic for even the fittest people,” she notes.

The most heartbreaking moment of the article is when a single mother from Vietnam named Bé loses her son to a flash flood as she and others tried to cross a river.

“Bé said she felt all the energy drain from her body as she sat on the beach, speechless and unmovable. Some of the other migrants in their group told her they had heard Khánh call out ‘Mommy’ as he was pulled away,” wrote Dickerson.

If only more Americans took the time to read this remarkable piece of journalism, perhaps empathy would eclipse xenophobia as the dominant force in today’s debates about immigration.