USA-Mexico: Across the Borderline
33-minutes, 2000
Ref: 003tvc

We look at the massive illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexican border, a subject which has been largely avoided in the U.S. elections, despite its importance to relations between the U.S. and Mexico. A group of ranchers in Arizona now want troops to seal the frontier. Wetbacks (illegal immigrants) have now set their sights on the U.S. border town of Douglas as an easy point of entry. The wetbacks come from poor areas like Chiapas in Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador. Those who make it over the border can usually find work in California's fields or in big U.S. cities hungry for cheap labor. The ranchers are furious about the "invasion" of wetbacks. They say the army should be called in to defend the country's frontier with Mexico and the ranchers' property from the foreign hordes. Last year, over 800,000 people tried to cross into Douglas from Agua Prieta, a Mexican border town. The U.S. border patrol has beefed up its patrols in the area from 30 to over 500 officers. The Americans have deployed hi-tech systems along the frontier next to San Diego and El Paso to keep the immigrants out. So the "wetbacks" have now moved to the area around Agua Prieta while the Border Patrol has concentrated around Douglas. The shift in U.S. deployment is forcing would-be immigrants to cross the Arizona desert to evade detection. Many taking this route die of thirst and hunger on the way. The ranchers are even organizing man hunts with dogs to track down "wetbacks" crossing their land. Those caught are handed over to the authorities. The Mexican town of Agua Prieta is booming and is full of cheap hotels where the "wetbacks" make contact with "coyotes" - the people who run them across the frontier. One of these "coyotes" calls himself an "exporter" and says he has made over 2000 trips over the border. The wetbacks pay between U.S. $3,000 and U.S.$6,000 for the crossing, often selling everything they own. Now the drug gangs are getting in on the act. Drug-trafficking channels are being used for trafficking in human lives since it has become such a lucrative business. As a result, mansions built with the profits are springing up along the streets of Agua Prieta. Corrupt Mexican officials fleece the "wetbacks" who are also often robbed in remote spots. The "coyotes" often abandon their "clients" in the middle of the desert. The three thousand kilometer U.S. - Mexico border is now a dangerous no-mans land. The ranchers want troops. Human rights groups say giving more aid to Mexico is the only way to help put an end to so much human suffering and injustice.