Thread: The Night Border Crossing Tour

Video at the link below also.
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Apr 27, 2007 8:32 am US/Pacific

CBS13 Investigates: The Night Border Crossing Tour

Brandi Hitt
Reporting

(CBS13) The terrain across the United States and Mexican border is unforgiving, still a half million undocumented immigrants cross each year over rocks, cliffs and desert where any step could be your last.

A family theme park in the heart of Mexico has been training immigrants on how to cross the U.S. broder, some say. Our journey to find the park named Parque Eco Alberto began in Mexico City. The park is located in the financial heart of Mexico, and people there know about the park's featured "Night Border Crossing Experience." We drove to the small town of El Alberto to see it for ourselves.

The Mayor of El Albeto, Bernardino Martin, says at one point half of the town just packed up and left. That's 1,100 people. He said most of them crossed the border into the United States -- something he thinks is very dangerous.

"(We're) trying to get people to realize its not worth risking your life to get to the other side," said Martin.

Despite Martin's claim, some people in the U.S say the "Border Experience" this might help people illegally cross the border.

"Yes we've heard that. But those people are interpreting that incorrectly," said Martin.

A park employee said he's crossed five times and now plays a fake border patrol agent who stops people from crossing during the border experience. In Mexico he was an iron worker, but while in Phoenix he could only find landscaping work for a third of the money so he came home, had a family, and now plays a border patrol agent in the "Border Experience."

"We don't play because we like it. We just try to give the position that they can change before they make a decision to leave their country," said the employee.

Once the sun set, we decided that we needed to go through it ourselves.

9:15, Saturday night.
Announcing the night tour, the night border tour is about to start. They load us up into small pick up trucks, having to ride in the back.

Once we reached our destination, we came across "Poncho", a tour guide who wears a mask. Poncho pulled out a Mexican flag, and the "border experience" began with the singing of the Mexican national anthem.

10:15 pm
For the first half hour of the experience, our guide Poncho had spent the whole time pumping up the crowd. He said that he understands what the American dream is, but people can have that dream here. Poncho tries to instill confidence in them to create a better life in Mexico -- even in El Alberto. Immediately after that the guides tell us to run, and run fast-- because the border patrol is coming.Everybody hits the ground. Lights and sirens are pretty much expected, but nobody was picked up. There are also kids probably as young as seven years old that also went through the "Experience."

Later, we slide down a rocky hill, and straight into the mud. People even lost their shoes in the thick muck. All of a sudden everyone jumps into the bushes to hide.

Border Patrol officers talk over a loud speaker telling people do not cross the river saying that there are snakes and other deadly animals. The border patrol is also telling these people "You could drown. We have water, we have food. If you're suffering we can help you." The agents try to entice people to turn themselves in but instead, the group moves on.

We cross a wire fence, and without warning, gunshots!

The gunfire come from border patrol officers and we learn that some in our group get caught. Those who didn't get nabbed rest and hide in nearby bushes and watch as the handcuffs and flashing lights take away a large number of the group.
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Web Extra Video :
The Border Crossing Tour (Extended) part 1
The Border Crossing Tour (Extended) part 2
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The park gets some funding from the Mexican state and federal government. It not only brings in tourists but also creates jobs and now, El Ablerto's population's been restored. The park's biggest attraction just happens to be its "Night Border Crossing Experience".

11:15 pm
In total, the border patrol came through arrested about five people. They asked who the coyote was and who is it that brought people. The people said that they didn't know. Then they arrested, hand cuffed, and told they were going to jail. Tomorrow they were going to be deported.

Once the border patrol leaves, the group pushes on again. The cold comes strong as we walk through the river's rushing water. Near a rocky ledge we watch each step. After that, there are miles of more running, climbing, and more rocks.

It definitely was not fun. Our guides had us climb up a thin ledge and walk for 300 yards -- a scary experience when nothing protects you from dropping hundreds of feet to your death.

The border patrol came back and while the group hides, they witness men get shot. That had to be the most disturbing part of the experience. The guys were running across the street when the border patrol showed up, and shot them. They were not dead; however, the border patrol supposedly left them for dead.

"That's a very poor message to send to people: don't cross the border because the border patrol will kill you," said Robert Harvey, a U.S. Border Patrol Supervisor.

The Border Patrol told us they know about the park, and frankly, aren't worried about what people are learning.

"They're not going to experience the dehydration that some might experience or the lack of food on a real trek to cross the border," said Harvey.

Time and time again, what we witnessed, while running and hiding were people getting caught and people dying.

1:00 am
After crossing a very long, shaky bridge, blindfolded, we were asked to feel with our hearts as we walked to the end of the border experience.

When the blind folds came off, what we saw was a beautifully lit mountainside.

2:00 am
It all ends. Exactly how it began.

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Even if the intention of this park is to scare people from crossing the border, Martin admitted that people travel as far north as Sonora to come here and go through the "Experience." Even he said that he can't be 100% sure that people don't come here to learn and train for a border run.

http://cbs13.com/seenon/local_story_117013341.html

"(We're) trying to get people to realize its not worth risking your life to get to the other side," said Martin.

Yeah right. Who's dumb idea was this? And how can you call it a "true border crossing experience" when you don't have the dangers of snakes, and poisonous insects?

Obviously the rumor of the BP shooting everyone they see hasn't affected the 1 million illegals who do make it every year.

I saw a documentary about this program.

They have groups running and hiding behind bushes.
They have men dressed as US Army soldiers hunting for them.
In one case, one of the "soldiers" shot a young child and threw him into the bushes and walked away. Yes, you see, we are all savages...
and yet they come and come and come.