Texas- rio grande crossing

This was one of the most enlightening, shocking and belief changing points of the documentary, and it all happened for me at the very beginning of my journey.

Having grown up in california my entire life, legal and illegal immigration was always a hot topic. I always knew it existed, but my time on the rio grande in texas, late at night, was a true eye opener.

I found my way down to the crossing location after following the trail of discarded wrist bands that lead from the street level where border patrol processed the migrants, all the way down to the river, about 1-2 miles away. I didn’t know what to expect, but what happened shocked me,

At first i heard people just across the river speaking in hushed tones. Then i heard the sound of people blowing up rafts with their mouths, a sound that reminded me of when i would go camping and we’d have to blow up an air mattress with our mouths because we forgot the air compressor.

At first i thought i might see one or two cross over. but i was astonished to see that what started with one raft quickly turned into 2, 5, 10, 20 and more. all full of migrants crossing over. men, women, children all making the journey across the river from the hours of 8pm to midnight. don’t let the images fool you by the lighting in the skies. I was shooting with a camera that has tremendous low light capabilities.

I kept looking around wondering when border patrol was going to come, and when they did, what would they do? well, i never found out because they never came. the only law enforcement i ever saw down on the riverbank was from texas state troopers. and they would shine their flashlights on the riverbank helping the coyotes know where to go so they could land on u.s. soil safely.

I kept looking around and finally said to myself, “wow, everyone knows it’s happening and they’re doing absolutely nothing to stop it. if this isn’t coordinated i don’t know what is.”

I’ll never forget the coyotes laughing as they would cross, boasting about how they could illegally deliver migrants into the united states with impunity.

I was able to visit this location at two different times for a span of about 4 nights. after that the authorities stopped allowing anyone from the press to film what was going on. moments like this are what made me realize this project was bigger than a 3 month ordeal. it was going to require a true in depth look at how the system could become this way.