Meet Las Patronas, the Mexican Women Who Have Fed Migrants From a Moving Train Every Single Day for Over Three Decades

Every day in the small town of La Patrona in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, a group of approximately 20 women walks to the railroad tracks and waits. They are not waiting for a train to board. They are waiting for La Bestia, the freight train that carries thousands of migrants north toward the United States border, to pass close enough for them to throw bags of food and water to the people clinging to its sides. They have been doing this since 1995, which means that in 2026 Las Patronas have been feeding migrants from a moving train for over 31 years, and the world has still not fully caught up with how extraordinary that is.

The group began with an instinct. Norma Romero Vázquez and her sister were returning home with groceries when La Bestia passed and migrants called out that they were hungry. Without deliberating, the two women threw their cartons of milk and loaves of bread toward the train. They went home empty-handed that day and returned the next with 30 packages of food. They have not stopped since.

Who Las Patronas Are and What They Do Every Day

Las Patronas currently have close to 20 members, including founder Norma Romero Vázquez and her sister-in-law Guadalupe González, alongside hundreds of supporters around the world. The group cooks and distributes 30 kilograms of bread, rice and beans daily, preparing the food themselves and packaging it to be thrown to passengers on a train moving too fast to stop. Their current daily operation feeds an estimated 800 people, a number that stands in remarkable contrast to the 30 packages they started with over three decades ago.

The train passes through La Patrona up to three times a day, and Las Patronas distribute food twice daily. The packages have not changed dramatically since the beginning, eight corn tortillas, beans and rice, with fruit and cookies added when donations allow, but the scale of the operation has grown enormously to match the scale of migration through the region. Julia Ramírez, one of the group’s members, has described the changing face of the people on the train, noting that migration is no longer primarily men traveling alone. Entire families make the journey now, including pregnant women, small children and infants, with mothers holding babies on the moving train.

@screenshothq

A group of women, called #laspatronas offer life-saving essentials to migrants as they pass through on a train. The women have been doing this for 28 years and providing to Central American migrants. @Las Patronas Their name comes from their town, but for the migrants, who grab potentially life-saving food and water from these women will most likely never see them again “patron saint” couldn’t be more perfect of a name. 🥹❤️” #wholesomenews #migrants #mexico #feminist #positivenews #humanity #helpingothers #foodsharing #news

♬ Gymnopedie no.1 / Satie [Piano solo](256275) – takai

The Dangers Surrounding the People They Feed

La Bestia is not a passenger train. It is a freight train that migrants ride illegally, clinging to the tops and sides of cargo cars for hours or days at a time. Death and mutilation beneath the wheels are constant risks, and the physical danger of the train itself is compounded by the threat of extortion and violence from criminal organizations and corrupt officials who prey on migrants along the route. For women making the journey, the threat of sexual violence is a persistent reality throughout the trip north.

The children traveling on La Bestia are among the most vulnerable people Las Patronas encounter. Unaccompanied minors and young children traveling with families face all of the same dangers as adults with fewer resources and less capacity to protect themselves. Las Patronas have watched the number of children on the train increase over the years, a shift that has deepened the urgency of their work and the emotional weight of what they witness daily at the tracks.

Thirty Years of Recognition That Still Falls Short of What They Deserve

In 2013, Las Patronas received the National Human Rights Prize, the most prestigious human rights recognition in Mexico, an acknowledgment that their work had moved well past local charity into something the country felt obligated to formally honor. In 2022, they celebrated their 27th anniversary, offering thanks to God and to the Virgin of Guadalupe for sustaining their mission across three decades. In 2026, they are still there, still cooking, still walking to the tracks, still throwing food to strangers on a moving train.

The simplicity of what Las Patronas do is part of what makes it so powerful. They did not build an institution first. They did not apply for grants or develop a strategic plan. Two women threw their groceries to hungry people on a train and kept coming back. Thirty-one years later, the train still passes through La Patrona and the women are still there waiting for it, which is a demonstration of sustained human solidarity that deserves far more attention than it has ever received.