Last night I went to watch a movie at SIFF called
Reflective Properties. It turned out to be a series of short films ranging from 3-40 minutes. Nestled in the middle was
The Other Side, one of the longer films that was about immigration from Mexico to the United States. As the narrator (who had a voice that would have been great for radio) drove from the Southwest to California, he interviewed migrant workers, coyotes or paid guides, and aid organizations that try to help immigrants who are stranded in the desert by
building water stations and patrolling for those who are sick and dehydrated.
It was an amazing film with rich videography and a wide range of perspectives. One of my favorite parts of the movie was looking at the border walls themselves, many of which were in very poor condition. There were two that struck me, one that that extended out into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared into the water and another that was made of corrugated steal. It, too, extended for miles beyond what the eye could see. On the Mexican side, people of a nearby village had painted murals on the wall. It was lined with white crosses in remembrance of people who had died attempting to cross the border. On the wall, there was also a lot of graffiti. In big white letters, someone had painted
“A BRIDGE IS A WALL TURNED ON ITS SIDE.”
The narrator talked about the great sadness of these walls, that walls are erected where the
power of ideas ceases to be enough. They signify the limitations of those who are in control.
In an effort to decrease the number of immigrants, border control has concentrated its efforts on more populated areas, and so people are now crossing at the most remote and dangerous parts of the desert. (Check out this blog on
Humane Borders). Sadly, these efforts have not affected the number of immigrants at all. Instead, there are more deaths than ever. Today, there are more than 3,000 people who
attempt to cross from in and around Nogales Mexico to Nogales Arizona each day.
As it has become so much more dangerous, immigrants are using
Coyotes, or paid guides more in attempts to cross the border. A number of years ago, it cost $250 for a guide to help someone cross the border; now, the average price is $1,500 to $2,000 per person. With that kind of money involved, many drug and weapons smugglers have realized that there is more money in human trafficking than even in smuggling cocaine.
The narrator ends by suggesting that the real problem is not about the fact that these immigrants are undocumented, but rather that they are poor. Illegal immigration
does place a burden on resources, there's no arguing that. Illegal immigrants use emergency services, don’t have health insurance, and fail to pay taxes. But those are things that are true for American citizens working below the poverty line as well.
Although coyotes--and even Samaritans who aid those crossing the border with food and water--are seen as criminals in aiding illegal immigration, isn’t the problem actually bigger? The movie ends by saying that our economy benefits by having guest workers. And the problem is not going to get better until we realize that. With people offering jobs under the table, benefiting from undocumented labor, aren’t we all contributing to this problem?
Hear "
All Things Considered" with an interview with former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castaneda on the subject.
