Migrants find tips on Chinese version of TikTok for long trek to US-Mexico border
Reuters followed a group of migrants from China as during their trek to the U.S.-Mexico border. Lihua Wu's journey to the United States started when she scrolled past the words "The Route," one of several common hashtags on Douyin, the Chinese counterpart of TikTok, advising migrants on the irregular overland trek across Latin America to the United States, also known online as "the Big Beautiful." By the time the single mother and her five-year-old daughter were apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol on a dirt road near the U.S.-Mexico border just before midnight on April 2, Wu said she had relied on social media for detailed instructions for her trip, including footwear (Crocs as well as hiking boots) and how to find and pay for a reliable local guide. Migrants from China disembark from the motorized boat they used to cross the Rio Grande river into the U.S. from Mexico and are pointed towards the town cemetery in Fronton, Texas, on April 10, 2023. Staff/Reuters Mig...