Illegal border crossings into the United States from Mexico have dropped precipitously in the last few months.

But farther south, hundreds of thousands of migrants are still making dangerous journeys through one of the world's most treacherous jungles.

The Atlantic September issue titled 70 miles in hell documents migrants efforts

traveling through the Darien gap, a once considered impassable region connecting

Central and South America.

Staff writer at the Atlantic, Caitlin Dickerson made several reporting trips into the

jungle following migrants through the crossing. She

joins me now. Caitlin welcome back. Thanks for being with us. Thanks so much

for having me on that. So you and photographer Lindsay Adario made a number of

trips to the Darien gap this deadly nearly

impenetrable jungle that hundreds of thousands of people still walk every

single year. Caitlin for people who have never been there will never be able to go there just

describe to us what it was like for you to make that journey what stood out to you

what stays with you.

The Darien Gap is this narrow strip of land that extends out of Northern Columbia into

southern Panama.

It's the only way to walk north out of South America.

It's very, very dense. It's mountainous and the list of

threats that migrants who make this crossing are facing is very long.

Everything from flash floods, which are quite common because it rains on a daily

basis to falling people have heart attacks from over exertion from the terrain

there are deadly snakes there are jungle cats and on top of all of the natural

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