:00:00. > :00:00.construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border but how would a
:00:00. > :00:08.wall stop drugs and people illegally entering the United States?
:00:09. > :00:20.It was one of his main campaign pledges -
:00:21. > :00:27.to build a wall all along the US-Mexico border.
:00:28. > :00:29.A third of it already has some sort of barrier,
:00:30. > :00:35.but what are the challenges of trying to seal it off completely?
:00:36. > :00:39.I have completed the first part of this trip and so far I have
:00:40. > :00:40.travelled along a border where the river is
:00:41. > :00:46.But from now on I am going to be visiting places where fences have
:00:47. > :00:54.So we are going to be seeing much more of this.
:00:55. > :00:59.After El Paso, Ciudad Juarez and Nogales I will finish
:01:00. > :01:03.in the quintessential border town of Tijuana a place where some
:01:04. > :01:10.Back home you just can't go anywhere here, you start selling drugs just
:01:11. > :01:13.to get by or make money or hustle or whatever.
:01:14. > :01:19.But I am starting my trip in a place where it is not always
:01:20. > :01:22.to spot the divide - the twin towns of El Paso
:01:23. > :01:32.Every morning Luiz drives from the Mexican side
:01:33. > :01:43.We cannot show his face because his American company
:01:44. > :01:51.I leave at 2.30am in the morning, it takes an hour to cross the border.
:01:52. > :01:55.I don't like to be waiting in the line.
:01:56. > :01:58.This is the kind of journey that many people make every day to go
:01:59. > :02:19.I work for a company that does concrete and right now they sent
:02:20. > :02:27.somebody to drive a bus, he is doing a job, you know.
:02:28. > :02:31.For my job is just to make the wall this time.
:02:32. > :02:34.What have your relatives or friends told you about building this fence?
:02:35. > :02:38.They joke with me, they tell me to leave a little
:02:39. > :02:54.This is the construction site where is currently working.
:02:55. > :02:56.This is the construction site where he is currently working.
:02:57. > :02:59.The first barriers went up in 1994 at the western end of the border.
:03:00. > :03:01.Successive governments led by Clinton, Bush
:03:02. > :03:08.and Obama extended them all along the frontier.
:03:09. > :03:11.The fence here was erected ten years ago and Luiz is repairing a
:03:12. > :03:15.He believes the American President is fooling himself if he thinks
:03:16. > :03:49.the frontier can be completely sealed off.
:03:50. > :03:51.Standing so close to it, it's obviously a very imposing structure.
:03:52. > :03:56.There used to be a smaller fence here but it's now been replaced
:03:57. > :03:59.with this five-metre high metal posts and the closer
:04:00. > :04:01.you get to the fence, the more you wonder how the wall
:04:02. > :04:04.President Trump wants to build will serve its purposes and how
:04:05. > :04:06.will it affect the lives and businesses of people
:04:07. > :04:13.Since the fence was built, Ciudad Juarez became one of the most
:04:14. > :04:18.In contrast, El Paso is now among the safest cities in the US.
:04:19. > :04:30.This is Mannys Rodriguez, the barrier runs through her backyard.
:04:31. > :04:43.Days ago she saw migrants jumping it with a ladder.
:04:44. > :04:46.We were fixing our truck back here and we heard the voices
:04:47. > :04:49.and we looked outside but we couldn't see no one
:04:50. > :04:51.and we said, where are the voices coming from?
:04:52. > :04:54.When we saw they had a ladder, they built a big, like that swimming
:04:55. > :04:57.pool ladder and they just, you know, hooked it up to the fence
:04:58. > :05:00.and they crossed over, then the other one pulled it
:05:01. > :05:05.I said oh, they just, you know, they said bye!
:05:06. > :05:07.On the whole, though, she says things have improved.
:05:08. > :05:11.We have less cargo as we say crossing over.
:05:12. > :05:17.A granddaughter of Mexicans, Rodriguez supports
:05:18. > :05:30.I believe that he is trying to protect the US.
:05:31. > :05:33.The way I see it, I would go to Juarez but I won't
:05:34. > :05:43.And I am not saying that I am against Mexicans
:05:44. > :05:45.or Juarez or anything, I just wouldn't trust my
:05:46. > :05:48.All along the border there are reminders,
:05:49. > :05:53.like this jacket, that for some the impulse to cross this fence
:05:54. > :05:58.or a future wall may be too strong to stop.
:05:59. > :06:07.I am leaving El Paso and driving 500 kilometres west
:06:08. > :06:10.The first fence went up here in the 90s,
:06:11. > :06:20.The cartels who control the drug trade and the people smuggling
:06:21. > :06:23.responded by going underground and they have turned this area
:06:24. > :06:38.into the tunnel capital of the border.
:06:39. > :06:46.We don't know who we might run into so the police go ahead of us. We
:06:47. > :06:54.don't know what to expect. Caution is needed. What just happened?
:06:55. > :06:57.Smugglers and migrants use the cover of darkness and wait for the right
:06:58. > :07:02.moment to head towards the US end of the tunnel.
:07:03. > :07:07.So the policeman just told me that after the turn on the flashlight
:07:08. > :07:14.they saw someone and this person ran away. Minutes later, we catch a
:07:15. > :07:27.glimpse of him in the distance. He is not moving. And they're pointing
:07:28. > :07:34.at this person with a flashlight. He believes it's better to back up and
:07:35. > :07:56.alert the police so we are heading towards the entrance of the tunnel.
:07:57. > :08:05.The traffickers use not only the subter trainian infrastructure, the
:08:06. > :08:10.authorities have found more than 110 tunnels built by Mexican cartels.
:08:11. > :08:14.They call them narco tunnels. In this cemetery one of them hides in
:08:15. > :08:18.plain sight. This is the entrance of a tunnel which was recently filled
:08:19. > :08:24.in. They used to carry drugs to the other side of the border and as you
:08:25. > :08:31.can see, the fence is just about 100 metres from here. On the American
:08:32. > :08:40.side, Tony has been a sheriff for 25 years. They're very creative, if you
:08:41. > :08:43.do anything they'll go under it. They'll go over it and they'll go
:08:44. > :08:48.around it. So it's a phenomenon that's not going to stop, no wall,
:08:49. > :08:52.no matter how beautiful and big and expensive is going to stop people
:08:53. > :08:58.that are desperate, people that are needy, and people that are poor.
:08:59. > :09:04.Undocumented immigrants in the US have increased by nearly 40% since
:09:05. > :09:10.President Trump's crackdown. But he believes this is missing the point.
:09:11. > :09:16.Illegal immigration as far as I am concerned peals compared to a drug
:09:17. > :09:19.problem. When you are spending resources on illegal immigration and
:09:20. > :09:21.you are talking about identifying people leaving the community that
:09:22. > :09:28.have families and are contributing, it's useless. It's not putting
:09:29. > :09:34.resources to the best. Go after them, let's get the criminal agents
:09:35. > :09:38.but don't bother anybody else. This shelter in Nogales opened decades
:09:39. > :09:45.ago. Since then it has received hundreds of thousands of migrants.
:09:46. > :09:52.We find hope and faith but also sadness and pain. For the last 13
:09:53. > :09:58.years this man has worked in tomato fields. She was picked up trying to
:09:59. > :10:11.get back into the US after visiting family in Mexico.
:10:12. > :10:34.Despite the risky journey she's already planning to go back.
:10:35. > :10:43.If anyone is able to judge the success of a wall, it is perhaps the
:10:44. > :10:49.people smugglers. This one says it has reduced numbers. He was happy to
:10:50. > :11:02.appear on camera but preferred not to be named.
:11:03. > :11:25.For him a bigger wall could mean fewer clients but more money.
:11:26. > :11:33.Nogales may be another example of the mixed and complex nature of
:11:34. > :11:39.border towns. And of the unintended consequences of building barriers. A
:11:40. > :11:49.wall will stop some people, but others will find a different way
:11:50. > :11:57.around. My final destination on this road trip is Tijuana. No other place
:11:58. > :12:00.on the US-Mexico frontier has a more intimate relationship with the wall
:12:01. > :12:04.than this city. Here the US Government started building the
:12:05. > :12:11.border's first barrier almost three decades ago. It has shaped the
:12:12. > :12:21.lives, identities and faiths of millions. This is a graffiti artist
:12:22. > :12:26.who has lived here for 25 years. The wall for him became a canvas, an
:12:27. > :13:45.opportunity to express his feelings towards life in a place divided.
:13:46. > :13:52.Painting on this is a cathartic experience but he wishes it wasn't
:13:53. > :14:13.there at all. The most frequently crossed border
:14:14. > :14:18.in the world unites two countries and there is no indifference to the
:14:19. > :14:22.divisions that engenders. The barriers became a symbol and not a
:14:23. > :15:19.solution to complex problems. This is another whose art is defined
:15:20. > :15:28.by the wall. He is a hip hop artist living in the US but has family on
:15:29. > :15:34.both sides of the border. As artists we have to reflect our reality.
:15:35. > :15:40.Having to cross the border so many times growing up, it definitely
:15:41. > :15:45.resonated with my understanding of restrictions and placing borders on
:15:46. > :15:49.people. So in the same - I took that to my music, I attached that to my
:15:50. > :15:53.music. It's like if I don't agree there is a border that needs to be
:15:54. > :15:57.crossed in order for people to live in a particular place, I made the
:15:58. > :16:03.effort not to put borders and restrictions on my music. There are
:16:04. > :16:10.an estimated 11 million million undocumented immigrants living in
:16:11. > :16:13.the US. He has relatives among them and Trump's rhetoric against these
:16:14. > :16:17.people has left them dreading the prospect of his family breaking up.
:16:18. > :16:21.I had a family member that had to go to a Government building, from the
:16:22. > :16:25.moment we got the scheduled date to the actual date, there is a lot of
:16:26. > :16:31.tension, there is a lot of arguments at home. Because why, because of the
:16:32. > :16:45.fear. There is a very real fear that anything could happen to our
:16:46. > :16:52.families at any given moment. He wants to continue highlighting what
:16:53. > :16:55.he sees as controversial issues. It's abnormal behaviour and
:16:56. > :17:00.relationships between Government agencies, federal agencies and local
:17:01. > :17:06.enforcement, that's something that's abnormal, it's not normal. I feel
:17:07. > :17:12.that's all we can do is challenge. I feel music needs to be an act of
:17:13. > :17:17.expression that is thought-provoking and I don't agree that you can make
:17:18. > :17:27.music without reflecting your reality. If deported, his relative
:17:28. > :17:31.may end up here in Tijuana, the city receives more deportees than any
:17:32. > :17:34.along the border. For them it's a painful contradiction, they feel
:17:35. > :17:43.like foreigners in the country they were born in. That's my mother...
:17:44. > :17:48.Chris's tattoos tell a story of a rough life. As a youngster he got
:17:49. > :17:52.involved in gangs, guns and drugs, spending his teenager years in jail
:17:53. > :17:57.in the US but he was deported to Mexico because he was born there. He
:17:58. > :18:01.was dropped into a place he barely knew, having to speak a language he
:18:02. > :18:06.had already forgotten. I think about what I want to say in English and I
:18:07. > :18:15.have to translate in my mind to be able to say it. Some words I can't
:18:16. > :18:18.even pronounce in Spanish. That's really the reason why call centres
:18:19. > :18:22.have worked out for me. This is a call centre, many of the people
:18:23. > :18:27.working here have been deported from the US. Hello, this is Chris, the
:18:28. > :18:32.purpose for my call is to inform you that your manufacturer warranty has
:18:33. > :18:38.expired on your 2012... It might be surprising to people in the States
:18:39. > :18:44.to know they're talking to a Tattooed ex-gang members and surely
:18:45. > :18:51.rival gangs in the same workplace is a recipe for disaster. You have
:18:52. > :18:56.maybe some southerners, those are - they represent like the number 13,
:18:57. > :19:02.usually they're from the south. And then you have a group of people like
:19:03. > :19:07.us and some of my friends who are northerners and who are with the
:19:08. > :19:12.number 14. In the States, we can't stand seeing each other and can't,
:19:13. > :19:18.for the most part, there is not even talking, nothing like that, we see
:19:19. > :19:23.open other and it's just, we just go at it. No questions asked. Here, you
:19:24. > :19:29.know, we keep it respectful and make it work. For the sake of workplace
:19:30. > :19:34.and trying to live a peaceful life. This gentleman right here in the row
:19:35. > :19:39.where I am sitting, he has a tattoo on his arm and face... Chris is a
:19:40. > :19:44.supervisor here and doesn't even think of going back to his old life.
:19:45. > :19:47.But the new one hasn't been easy. Sometimes people give you that
:19:48. > :19:53.opportunity, they see you and they're like, doesn't know any
:19:54. > :19:58.better. Stupid little gangster want to be here, stupid druggy or addict,
:19:59. > :20:04.deportee however they want to label you, they look down on you. Tijuana
:20:05. > :20:09.may be a few miles from the States but it's a different world. Back
:20:10. > :20:13.home, you just can't go anywhere here, you start selling drugs. To
:20:14. > :20:16.get by or make money or hustle or whatever. It doesn't work like that.
:20:17. > :20:21.You need permission I hear from somebody and who that is, God knows,
:20:22. > :20:23.but, you know, if you don't have the permission, you can pretty much
:20:24. > :20:34.count on you being found dead somewhere.
:20:35. > :20:37.I have travelled across town to an evangelical Church Housing Hatian
:20:38. > :20:42.migrants. It's a place to worship, it's also a shelter and a place of
:20:43. > :20:49.limbo. Thousands of them are stranded. They fled their country
:20:50. > :20:56.after the 2010 earthquawe but are unable to enter the US due to an
:20:57. > :21:06.Obama policy aimed at diswading more from arriving.
:21:07. > :21:13.Christopher and his countrymen are the latest example of the stories
:21:14. > :21:40.that for decades have been part of this town.
:21:41. > :21:46.Tijuana is a place of aspirations, broken dreams, of new beginnings,
:21:47. > :21:57.it's a city where people have learned to navigate being so close
:21:58. > :22:05.to the US, and yet so far. So that's it. The end of my road trip. It has
:22:06. > :22:10.been a fascinating journey along a part of the world that belongs to
:22:11. > :22:19.Mexico and the US and in a way to neither. This is a land of paradox,
:22:20. > :22:23.a land of extremes. It can be cruel, violent and imposing and at the same
:22:24. > :22:28.time beautiful, gentle, and gracious. It is a place where people
:22:29. > :22:33.have learned to live in a strange intimacy with a wall and probably
:22:34. > :22:38.many more will have to do the same. On this strip I have seen the
:22:39. > :22:43.challenges of building more barriers, talked to people happy
:22:44. > :22:50.with a wall in the backyard and to those that believe that more fences
:22:51. > :22:54.won't stop migrants, nor drugs. This border is, after all, home to
:22:55. > :23:02.millions of people that no matter what you think of the wall, now face
:23:03. > :23:10.a dramatic, momentous and divisive time.