Podcast Summary

It Could Happen Here – CZM Rewind: They Don’t Care About Us: What Migrants Leave Behind

Host: James Stout (Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts)
Original Air Date: December 30, 2025

Overview

This episode, led by James Stout, explores the lives, hardships, and motivations of migrants crossing the dangerous Darién Gap, focusing especially on Venezuelan and African migrants en route to the United States. Through firsthand interviews—translated from Spanish and French—James gives voice to migrants’ stories, highlighting the dire economic, political, and environmental circumstances that force people to make such perilous journeys. The episode contextualizes migration as both a humanitarian crisis and a direct consequence of decades of US foreign policy, climate change, and global inequity.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Human Drive to Migrate (03:00–07:00)

• Harsh Realities at Home: Migrants cite worsening economies, political violence, and the impossibility of surviving on local wages as their main motivations for leaving.
  • “With a salary of $3 a month, you can't survive.” – Venezuelan Migrant (04:10)
• Faith and Fatalism: Despite dangers, many cling to religious hope and necessity:
  • “Yeah, the Darien is dangerous, but nothing is impossible. We walk hand in hand with God...” (04:40)

2. The Jungle Crossing: The Darién Gap Experience (07:00–16:00)

• Physical and Psychological Toll: The Darién is depicted as beautiful but deadly. Interviewed migrants detail dangerous river crossings, days without food, and the omnipresence of death.
  • “There are people, there are dead people on the road. So it's something you cannot really explain... One thing is to live it, explaining it, talking about it, that's different.” (13:20)
• Humor as Survival: James observes that migrants, particularly Venezuelans, retain humor as a means to cope:
  • “It's important to steal moments of humor in these difficult times, to laugh a little among all the suffering.” (11:00)

3. Political and Economic Roots of Migration (16:00–28:00)

• US Policy and Instability: James outlines how US interventions—military, political, and economic—helped foster conditions for collapse across Central and South America.
  • “The story of migrants crossing the Dalian Gap is an American one. It's impossible to disentangle the people making this dangerous journey from the history of American policy...” (08:40)
• Venezuela’s Decline:
  • “Venezuela... despite its oil wealth, there's not enough gasoline for the fishermen to go fishing. I had to immigrate. I had nothing else to do.” (45:30)
  • General consensus among migrants: “No hay futuro. There's no future.” (48:20)

4. The Hard Choices of Families (28:00–38:00)

• Separation and Sacrifice: Some young men travel ahead to earn and send money; others leave children behind or travel with disabled children for a chance at medical care.
  • “We all help. I put little children up here on my shoulders to carry them, but it isn't easy.” (35:20)
• Community and Solidarity: Migrants often form impromptu support networks, sometimes across language barriers.

5. Inadequacy & Cruelty of Immigration Systems (38:00–52:00)

• Broken Protections: Erika Pinheiro (Al Otro Lado) explains how programs like Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are neither stable nor a path to citizenship, especially for Venezuelans.
  • “... it's not a path to citizenship. So basically, people are just in limbo, sometimes for decades.” – Erika Pinheiro (49:45)
• Complexity and Inaccessibility: Costly passports, limited legal pathways, and the CBP1 app’s language barriers make legal migration almost impossible for the poorest.
  • “It costs 300 bucks to get a passport... Getting a visa would be nearly impossible, and just trying might result in the government coming after them.” (53:00)

6. The Ongoing Struggle in Mexico (52:00–01:02:00)

• Blockades and Relocations: Mexican authorities, under US pressure, sweep migrants southward, often into more precarious and violent areas.
  • “The Mexican National Guard has been detaining people... Sometimes they'll just send [migrants] to either Chiapas and increasingly Tabasco.” – Erika Pinheiro (01:00:30)
• Danger and Desperation: Migrants repeatedly attempt the journey north, but with diminishing resources and support, risk rises.

7. Lives in Limbo: Children and Non-Latinx Migrants (01:02:00–01:19:00)

• Children’s Hardships and Resilience: Kids keep spirits up with games and simple questions, even as they face deprivation and danger.
  • “I watched exhausted mothers hoist their babies onto their shoulders to keep walking... The sacrifices I saw them make, starving for days to give their kids something to eat...” (01:05:00)
• African Migrants’ Isolation: African migrants face added hurdles: lack of local diaspora, language barriers, less media coverage, increased vulnerability to exploitation.
  • “Because of their obvious foreignness and perceived inability to communicate, African migrants are often targeted for crime...” (01:14:30)

8. Messages to America & Memorable Reflections (01:19:00–end)

• Empathy and Recognition:
  • “Africa is not a country. A lot of them think when they see you and your black person, they say, are you African?... They don't care about us the way we care about them.” – Gabriel, Equatorial Guinea (01:21:50)
• Host’s Closing Reflections: James shares personal moments with migrants, expressing a deep respect for their resilience, humor, and humanity.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “One thing is to live it, explaining it, talking about it, that's different. It's hard to put into words.” – Venezuelan migrant (13:35)
• “No hay futuro. There's no future.” – Common refrain among Venezuelan interviewees (48:20)
• “I watched exhausted mothers hoist their babies onto their shoulders to keep walking... Every day, as their savings grew lower... parents try to smile for their kids.” – James Stout (01:05:00)
• “People are just in limbo, sometimes for decades.” – Erika Pinheiro (49:45)
• “They don't care about us the way we care about them. And this is the way of seeing things which doesn't consider us as human, not the same as them.” – Gabriel, Equatorial Guinea (01:21:50)

Timestamps of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Theme | |------------|----------------------------------------------------| | 03:00 | Why migrants leave: root causes | | 07:00 | The Darién Gap: danger, trauma, struggle | | 11:00 | Humor and camaraderie among migrants | | 13:20 | Facing death and the psychological toll | | 16:00 | US policy and Latin American destabilization | | 28:00 | Family decisions, separation, and solidarity | | 35:20 | Carrying children, mutual aid | | 38:00 | TPS and systemic immigration barriers | | 52:00 | Mexico’s role and enforcement under US pressure | | 01:05:00 | Parents’ sacrifices and personal vignettes | | 01:14:30 | African migrants: invisibility, added hardships | | 01:21:50 | Gabriel’s message: “Africa is not a country” |

Tone & Style

The episode maintains a reflective, empathetic, and often somber tone, nuanced by moments of humor and resilience expressed by migrants. The host’s narrative is deeply informed by firsthand experience, offering a grounded, personal perspective rarely seen in coverage of migration.

Conclusion

“They Don’t Care About Us: What Migrants Leave Behind” is a moving, in-depth dispatch from the front lines of migration. Rooted in empathy and a clear-eyed critique of policy, James Stout amplifies migrant voices and their stories of hope, loss, endurance, and humanity that are too often ignored or oversimplified.