For about half a year, thousands of Georgian citizens have been illegally crossing the US-Mexico border and surrendering to American border guards.

Their journey to America is difficult, long, risky and expensive. They pay an average of $15,000 to $20,000 to survive immigration jails, hunger, cold, insecurity and fear, just to sneak into the US and start a new life there.

Getting to the US through Mexico is a relatively new direction for Georgian labor migration, but now one of the most frequent. People of all sexes and ages travel, even with families – pregnant wives and small children.

They spend variable amounts of time on the road. Some complete it in two weeks, others several months.

In recent months, many former employees of public services such as the police and customs have been traveling to the United States this way. Among them are those who held relatively high positions.

JAMnews explores why people are fleeing Georgia, what route illegal Georgian migrants take and what they find in the America of their dreams.