1
00:00:05,589 --> 00:00:08,007
[Suspenseful music]

2
00:00:36,620 --> 00:00:38,246
[Austin] I'm a little nervous...

3
00:00:40,332 --> 00:00:42,125
thinkin' about
my parents' story.

4
00:00:45,629 --> 00:00:49,007
It'll be the
first time I would... I'd been
on that section of Rio Grande

5
00:00:49,216 --> 00:00:50,091
where my parents crossed...

6
00:00:51,635 --> 00:00:52,510
in my life.

7
00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:53,469
First time ever.

8
00:00:55,222 --> 00:00:57,515
And I think it's gonna connect

9
00:00:57,725 --> 00:01:01,060
everything really,
really well for me.

10
00:01:04,648 --> 00:01:07,191
[Austin]
I've been uh, river-guiding
here on the Rio Grande

11
00:01:07,401 --> 00:01:09,110
for the past six-ish years.

12
00:01:10,404 --> 00:01:12,613
I want people to know
what's out here.

13
00:01:14,366 --> 00:01:16,284
I want the love to be shared.

14
00:01:18,662 --> 00:01:22,123
This is wilderness
as wild as it gets.

15
00:01:31,300 --> 00:01:32,508
But people
don't like hearing that.

16
00:01:35,763 --> 00:01:37,388
People like
hearing about a wall.

17
00:01:41,393 --> 00:01:43,728
Rather than talking
about putting up a fence,

18
00:01:43,937 --> 00:01:46,064
why don't
we work out some recognition

19
00:01:46,273 --> 00:01:47,565
of our mutual problems...

20
00:01:47,775 --> 00:01:49,567
Make it possible
for them to come here legally

21
00:01:49,777 --> 00:01:52,612
with a work permit,
and open the border both ways.

22
00:01:53,655 --> 00:01:57,492
We are nation of immigrants,
but we are also a nation of law.

23
00:01:59,369 --> 00:02:01,579
[Bill Clinton]
That's why our administration
has moved aggressively

24
00:02:01,789 --> 00:02:03,247
to secure our borders more.

25
00:02:05,709 --> 00:02:09,754
Ours' is a nation of immigrants,
we're also a nation of law.

26
00:02:10,881 --> 00:02:13,341
[George W. Bush]
We have a responsibility
to secure our borders.

27
00:02:14,510 --> 00:02:16,427
President Bush,
he signed a bill today

28
00:02:16,637 --> 00:02:19,222
authorizing the construction
of a fence

29
00:02:19,431 --> 00:02:21,099
along the border with Mexico.

30
00:02:21,308 --> 00:02:24,268
This fence
would be 700 miles long.

31
00:02:24,478 --> 00:02:26,562
[Upbeat music]

32
00:02:31,318 --> 00:02:34,278
[Barack Obama] I think the
American people, they appreciate

33
00:02:34,488 --> 00:02:38,282
and believe in immigration.
But they can't have a situation
where you just have

34
00:02:38,492 --> 00:02:41,285
half a million people
pouring over the border

35
00:02:41,495 --> 00:02:44,372
without any kind of
mechanism to control it.

36
00:02:48,752 --> 00:02:50,336
Complete the danged fence.

37
00:02:50,546 --> 00:02:52,171
It'll work this time.

38
00:02:55,592 --> 00:02:58,803
[Hilary Clinton]
Look, I voted uh, numerous times
when I was a senator

39
00:02:59,012 --> 00:03:02,306
to spend money
to build a barrier

40
00:03:02,516 --> 00:03:05,643
to try to prevent
um, illegal immigrants

41
00:03:05,853 --> 00:03:06,602
from coming in.

42
00:03:11,316 --> 00:03:15,194
[Donald Trump] On day one,
we will begin working

43
00:03:15,404 --> 00:03:19,115
on an impenetrable,
physical, tall,

44
00:03:19,324 --> 00:03:20,658
powerful, beautiful

45
00:03:20,868 --> 00:03:23,452
southern-border wall.

46
00:03:23,662 --> 00:03:24,495
[Applause and cheering]

47
00:03:24,705 --> 00:03:26,831
[Upbeat music]

48
00:03:28,792 --> 00:03:30,501
[Crowd chanting]
Build that wall!

49
00:03:30,711 --> 00:03:38,176
Build that wall!

50
00:03:38,385 --> 00:03:39,802
[Donald trump] Build that wall!

51
00:03:40,012 --> 00:03:41,762
Build that wall!

52
00:04:05,829 --> 00:04:09,707
[Ben] This whole idea
got started a few months ago.

53
00:04:09,917 --> 00:04:12,293
I was workin'
for some wildlife biologists

54
00:04:12,502 --> 00:04:13,878
out in West Texas.

55
00:04:14,087 --> 00:04:21,552
And they were describing
to me how a physical wall

56
00:04:21,762 --> 00:04:24,388
would have
some really serious impact

57
00:04:24,598 --> 00:04:27,266
to a lot of wildlife species
along the Rio Grande.

58
00:04:29,353 --> 00:04:33,147
And it was something that... That
I never really thought about,

59
00:04:33,357 --> 00:04:37,985
the actual
physical entity of a wall.

60
00:04:39,863 --> 00:04:42,698
And I guess I just wanted
to... to learn more about it.

61
00:04:48,830 --> 00:04:49,747
[Jay] Um, uh...

62
00:04:49,957 --> 00:04:50,790
[laughing]

63
00:04:52,334 --> 00:04:53,918
[Ben] On a journey like
this, you're only as good

64
00:04:54,127 --> 00:04:55,503
as the team that you have.

65
00:04:55,712 --> 00:04:57,880
And this group is amazing.

66
00:04:58,090 --> 00:05:00,424
[Austin]
Like that and mess this up.

67
00:05:00,634 --> 00:05:03,886
[Ben]
So you... with horses, you
don't have to replace pedals.

68
00:05:04,096 --> 00:05:05,846
Austin Alvarado
is a river guide.

69
00:05:06,056 --> 00:05:07,807
He knows the river in West Texas

70
00:05:08,016 --> 00:05:09,433
like the back of his hand.

71
00:05:11,770 --> 00:05:13,312
Heather is an ornithologist.

72
00:05:13,522 --> 00:05:16,440
She studies birds
and butterflies along the Rio,

73
00:05:16,650 --> 00:05:20,611
and her knowledge of
just the biodiversity at large

74
00:05:20,821 --> 00:05:22,613
is gonna be really important
for the trip.

75
00:05:22,823 --> 00:05:24,740
Uh, one second. Yeah.

76
00:05:24,950 --> 00:05:27,618
[Ben] Filipe DeAndrade,
an incredible film maker.

77
00:05:27,828 --> 00:05:32,623
I expected like...
Yeah, like the mariachi band
and great entourage.

78
00:05:32,833 --> 00:05:35,418
Wooh, what a start!
And it is just like,
"Alright, pull up next

79
00:05:35,627 --> 00:05:37,837
- to the drum trucks,
we're doing this thing."
- Is he alright?

80
00:05:38,046 --> 00:05:42,842
[Ben]
Jay Kleberg, he works for Texas
Parks and Wildlife Foundation.

81
00:05:43,051 --> 00:05:45,886
Conservation is his thing.

82
00:05:46,930 --> 00:05:49,473
[Ben]
The wall is gonna be built
through a lot of places

83
00:05:49,683 --> 00:05:51,434
that are very near and dear
to his heart.

84
00:05:52,936 --> 00:05:54,562
[Chrissy] She may be walking by
the time you get back.

85
00:05:54,771 --> 00:05:55,855
- [Jay] Oh,
that's not a cool thing.
- [Chrissy] Yeah.

86
00:05:56,064 --> 00:05:57,315
[Laughing]

87
00:05:57,524 --> 00:05:58,482
[Jay]
You sure I can't just strap her?

88
00:05:58,692 --> 00:06:00,484
I can put her in the Camelback.

89
00:06:00,694 --> 00:06:03,279
- No!
- No, I put a little helmet
on her with a...

90
00:06:03,488 --> 00:06:04,989
[Chrissy] A little basket
in the front of your bike.

91
00:06:05,198 --> 00:06:06,824
- Yeah, with goggles.
- [Daughter] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

92
00:06:07,034 --> 00:06:08,409
[Chrissy chuckling]

93
00:06:09,453 --> 00:06:11,620
[Ben] Like this thing
originated in Colorado

94
00:06:11,830 --> 00:06:14,999
and by the time it hits here,
it's tiny, minuscule,

95
00:06:15,208 --> 00:06:18,336
and then the United States
takes pretty much all of it.

96
00:06:19,379 --> 00:06:23,299
So we can't even float down
the uh, the river right now,

97
00:06:23,508 --> 00:06:26,510
that's why we're taking bikes
which I'm not that big a fan of,

98
00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:30,890
but you know, looking forward
to the horror stretch.

99
00:06:31,099 --> 00:06:33,768
- [Photographer] Alright,
get in there, nice and tight.
- [Austin] Delighted.

100
00:06:37,147 --> 00:06:38,689
- [Photographer] Alright,
I think that probably got it.
- Alright.

101
00:06:38,899 --> 00:06:39,940
- Nailed it.
- Yeah.

102
00:06:40,150 --> 00:06:41,609
What's the last time
you rode a bike, Filipe?

103
00:06:42,611 --> 00:06:43,694
- [Filipe] Me?
- Yeah.

104
00:06:43,904 --> 00:06:45,863
- This morning.
- This morning.

105
00:06:46,073 --> 00:06:48,657
I just hopped off.
Now I'm hoppin' back on again.

106
00:06:48,867 --> 00:06:50,368
Alright, let's go make
some bad decisions.

107
00:06:50,577 --> 00:06:51,786
- [Ben] Hell, yeah!
- [Filipe] Let's go with it.

108
00:06:51,995 --> 00:06:53,412
Arrr!

109
00:06:56,666 --> 00:06:59,001
[Background music]

110
00:07:02,547 --> 00:07:05,299
[Ben] We are embarking
on a 1,200-mile journey

111
00:07:05,509 --> 00:07:07,468
from El Paso
to the Gulf of Mexico.

112
00:07:11,473 --> 00:07:13,808
[Ben] Riding bicycles
where there isn't enough water.

113
00:07:15,102 --> 00:07:17,645
[Ben] Takin' my mustangs
through the Big Bend.

114
00:07:19,689 --> 00:07:21,565
And canoeing down
the Rio Grande.

115
00:07:26,780 --> 00:07:29,824
[Ben] Tryin' to understand
where exactly a wall would go

116
00:07:31,201 --> 00:07:32,701
and what effects it would have.

117
00:07:32,911 --> 00:07:35,996
<i>♪ I dream I'm in ♪</i>

118
00:07:36,206 --> 00:07:38,416
Wait, wait, wait, time out.
Serious question.

119
00:07:42,003 --> 00:07:44,922
There is goin' to be doors
in this potential wall.

120
00:07:45,132 --> 00:07:47,758
Are there gonna
be doors like this
to access the Rio Grande?

121
00:07:47,968 --> 00:07:50,177
Like you'll have to get a key
or something to acc... No.

122
00:07:50,387 --> 00:07:53,556
No, and where there
are access points like
this, we'll have agents.

123
00:07:53,765 --> 00:07:55,224
And they'll have
access to the gates.

124
00:07:55,475 --> 00:07:57,393
So you might not be
able to get access to the

125
00:07:57,602 --> 00:07:59,437
Rio Grande area
without Border Patrol.

126
00:07:59,646 --> 00:08:00,312
Okay.

127
00:08:00,522 --> 00:08:03,065
So after this, you're
still technically in
the United States.

128
00:08:03,275 --> 00:08:04,900
Okay, okay.

129
00:08:07,112 --> 00:08:08,070
[Austin] Wow!

130
00:08:20,584 --> 00:08:22,877
[Filipe] Wait, so we are about
to enter Mexico right now?

131
00:08:24,171 --> 00:08:27,673
[Ben]
No, we're just gonna ride
on the Mexico side of the wall,

132
00:08:27,883 --> 00:08:29,216
but on the US.

133
00:08:30,260 --> 00:08:31,594
[Heather] No-man zone.

134
00:08:34,097 --> 00:08:36,432
[Heather]
It's wild being along the wall

135
00:08:36,641 --> 00:08:40,019
to have
this massive 25-foot barrier.

136
00:08:41,021 --> 00:08:44,690
It just feels so separate.

137
00:08:49,905 --> 00:08:54,033
[Jay]
While I was working in El Paso,
they constructed the wall,

138
00:08:54,242 --> 00:08:55,826
and they did it in
like 12 months.

139
00:08:56,036 --> 00:08:58,162
From my perspective,
it wasn't a real

140
00:08:58,371 --> 00:09:02,500
like uh, cry
against the construction

141
00:09:02,709 --> 00:09:03,751
of that fence at the time.

142
00:09:04,878 --> 00:09:07,880
But then since then I...
there have been people elected

143
00:09:08,089 --> 00:09:09,548
like congressman O'Rourke

144
00:09:09,758 --> 00:09:13,761
who was against
the construction of a... a fence.

145
00:09:13,970 --> 00:09:15,095
[Beto] I... I don't
think a lot of people

146
00:09:15,305 --> 00:09:17,056
in the interior
of the US understand

147
00:09:17,265 --> 00:09:19,016
that the wall
will not literally be built

148
00:09:19,226 --> 00:09:21,185
at the border, at the
international boundary line.

149
00:09:21,394 --> 00:09:23,896
It'll be built well within here,
it's 100 yards.

150
00:09:24,105 --> 00:09:27,691
Other places it's... it's a mile,
2 miles uh, into the interior

151
00:09:27,901 --> 00:09:31,028
and everywhere it's gonna look
as ugly as this or uglier.

152
00:09:32,072 --> 00:09:36,534
[Beto]
El Paso for the last 20 years
has been either the safest,

153
00:09:36,743 --> 00:09:40,079
the second-safest or the
third-safest city in America,

154
00:09:40,288 --> 00:09:43,582
which is really
remarkable, because it is at
complete odds with the rhetoric

155
00:09:43,792 --> 00:09:45,251
about the border.

156
00:09:47,921 --> 00:09:50,714
[Beto] Of the 2,000 miles
of the US-Mexico border,

157
00:09:50,924 --> 00:09:52,925
I believe
a little over 600 miles

158
00:09:53,134 --> 00:09:57,096
have fences, walls,
physical barriers.

159
00:09:57,305 --> 00:10:00,641
[Background music]

160
00:10:05,146 --> 00:10:09,567
[Beto] And that began after
the 2006 Secure Fencing Act,

161
00:10:09,776 --> 00:10:11,026
which Republicans and Democrats,

162
00:10:11,236 --> 00:10:13,737
inducing senators Obama
and Clinton at the time,

163
00:10:13,947 --> 00:10:17,575
voted for,
which essentially allowed
the Bush administration,

164
00:10:17,784 --> 00:10:19,201
and then
succeeding administrations,

165
00:10:19,411 --> 00:10:21,495
to put up
these physical barriers

166
00:10:21,705 --> 00:10:25,499
and to effectively
waive all environmental

167
00:10:25,709 --> 00:10:27,251
and local
stakeholders' safeguards.

168
00:10:30,213 --> 00:10:33,173
[Beto] I think people
who aren't from the border,

169
00:10:34,634 --> 00:10:36,927
this might make
a lot of sense to them like...

170
00:10:37,137 --> 00:10:39,597
So we hear there are problems
with Mexico or immigration

171
00:10:39,806 --> 00:10:43,601
or drugs, yeah, a...
a big giant fence

172
00:10:43,810 --> 00:10:47,104
with steel and concrete that...
that makes a lot of sense.

173
00:10:47,314 --> 00:10:49,523
When you live here, you,
you obviously...

174
00:10:49,733 --> 00:10:52,276
You see it differently
and you feel it...

175
00:10:52,485 --> 00:10:54,028
You feel it differently.

176
00:10:54,237 --> 00:10:58,032
I think being a politician

177
00:10:58,241 --> 00:11:01,952
and working um,

178
00:11:02,162 --> 00:11:05,873
across the aisle,
in most cases for candidates,

179
00:11:06,833 --> 00:11:08,125
is not rewarded at all.

180
00:11:09,169 --> 00:11:12,880
They are
rewarded for extreme stances.

181
00:11:13,089 --> 00:11:14,715
I'm Will Hurd.
I'm the representative

182
00:11:14,924 --> 00:11:17,968
from the 23rd
Congressional District of Texas,

183
00:11:18,178 --> 00:11:20,971
which goes from
the fringes of El Paso

184
00:11:21,181 --> 00:11:22,306
all the way to San Antonio.

185
00:11:22,515 --> 00:11:25,851
I have 820 miles of the border.

186
00:11:26,061 --> 00:11:27,144
And I spent
nine and a half years

187
00:11:27,354 --> 00:11:29,146
as an undercover officer
in the CIA.

188
00:11:29,356 --> 00:11:30,898
I sit on the
Homeland Security Committee.

189
00:11:31,900 --> 00:11:34,193
I've chased bad guys
all over the world,

190
00:11:34,402 --> 00:11:38,238
I've chased terrorists,
I've chased
nuclear weapons, proliferators.

191
00:11:38,448 --> 00:11:41,033
I've tr... I've chased
<i>the narcotraficantes.</i>

192
00:11:41,242 --> 00:11:45,329
And you learn that your
adversary has resources.

193
00:11:45,538 --> 00:11:48,791
They have um, the commitment
to do something

194
00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,210
and they're... they're...
they're... they're smart.

195
00:11:51,419 --> 00:11:55,297
That's why
any conversation um, on uh...

196
00:11:55,507 --> 00:12:01,178
On immigration or security has
to begin with operational
control of our border.

197
00:12:01,388 --> 00:12:03,847
I went to John Marshall High
School, but in [indistinct]

198
00:12:04,057 --> 00:12:05,683
- Okay, um...
- I'm talking about when...
when we were in...

199
00:12:05,892 --> 00:12:08,060
When were in hi... yeah.
I took my ring off,

200
00:12:08,269 --> 00:12:10,187
- because obviously
I was just supposed to.
- No, dude you got to...

201
00:12:10,397 --> 00:12:12,731
- what are you doing?
- No, but like I didn't know...

202
00:12:12,941 --> 00:12:14,441
Nobody else is wearing jewelry.

203
00:12:16,486 --> 00:12:18,779
[Will] We can get operational
control of our border.

204
00:12:18,988 --> 00:12:22,741
We can enforce our laws
to give deterrence

205
00:12:22,951 --> 00:12:24,785
and a consequence
to that negative behavior.

206
00:12:26,162 --> 00:12:29,790
[Background chatter]

207
00:12:29,999 --> 00:12:32,292
[Ben]
We just got to the end of
the wall for the first time.

208
00:12:35,463 --> 00:12:37,965
We need our... our men and women
in the Border Patrol

209
00:12:38,174 --> 00:12:40,342
to know exactly
what the threat is,

210
00:12:40,552 --> 00:12:45,389
so they're not showing up
with no information
about what's going on.

211
00:12:45,598 --> 00:12:49,977
And... and so that's why getting
the right tools is important.

212
00:12:50,186 --> 00:12:52,813
And... and I think...
I think folks need to realize

213
00:12:53,022 --> 00:12:55,941
that you know, um,
that we wanna secure the border,

214
00:12:56,151 --> 00:12:58,402
we should have
secured our border by now.

215
00:12:58,611 --> 00:13:00,696
- Let's roll.
You all... you all start going.

216
00:13:00,905 --> 00:13:01,989
Okay, we're gonna...
we're gonna head back.

217
00:13:02,198 --> 00:13:04,032
[Austin] There is wa...
there's like...

218
00:13:04,242 --> 00:13:06,326
- There is a canal right there.
- We just cross the canal?

219
00:13:07,537 --> 00:13:10,205
- [Filipe] I'll take my shirt off
and move across.
- [Jay] I mean we could, but uh...

220
00:13:10,415 --> 00:13:12,458
- [Will] Yeah. For sure,
- It's supposed to be an
adventure, right?

221
00:13:13,376 --> 00:13:16,170
[Heather] We could jump
through here, we could
just sail right off.

222
00:13:19,549 --> 00:13:20,841
[Will] This shit is deep.

223
00:13:22,552 --> 00:13:24,678
[Heather]
You know, I can't get my bike...

224
00:13:24,888 --> 00:13:28,432
Oh yeah! Oh, that's nice.

225
00:13:28,641 --> 00:13:30,893
Ooh! Ooh!

226
00:13:32,270 --> 00:13:33,771
[Will] Y'all didn't
tell me it was cold.

227
00:13:33,980 --> 00:13:35,397
- [Laughing]
- [Heather] Yee-haw, I know!

228
00:13:35,607 --> 00:13:36,440
[Filipe] Gettin' the congressman

229
00:13:36,649 --> 00:13:38,734
in a bit of pickle here.

230
00:13:38,943 --> 00:13:40,027
Here we go.

231
00:13:41,571 --> 00:13:43,405
- [Filipe] Got it.
- You want the camera
or you want the hand?

232
00:13:43,615 --> 00:13:44,948
- I'll take your hand.
- Yeah.

233
00:13:45,158 --> 00:13:46,366
[Heather] What?

234
00:13:46,576 --> 00:13:48,118
- Yeah.
- [Heather] Getting through.

235
00:13:48,328 --> 00:13:50,412
Oh yeah.

236
00:13:50,622 --> 00:13:51,705
Your government salutes you.

237
00:13:51,915 --> 00:13:53,457
- [Laughing]
- I'm sure.

238
00:13:53,666 --> 00:13:54,875
I get to my next
appointment on time.

239
00:13:55,084 --> 00:13:56,001
[Laughing]

240
00:13:56,211 --> 00:13:59,922
[Song in the background]

241
00:14:09,432 --> 00:14:10,474
[Austin] Wooh-hoo-hoo-hoo!

242
00:14:15,438 --> 00:14:17,481
- [Jay laughing]
- Cheers, boys.

243
00:14:17,690 --> 00:14:21,193
Hey, well, to only having
five bike malfunctions.

244
00:14:21,402 --> 00:14:22,486
Yeah.

245
00:14:35,917 --> 00:14:37,209
[Ben] Pretty good oatmeal.

246
00:14:39,546 --> 00:14:41,338
Glad I get to eat this.

247
00:14:41,548 --> 00:14:42,965
Is Heather up?

248
00:14:43,174 --> 00:14:44,174
[Heather] Yeah, I'm up.

249
00:14:44,384 --> 00:14:45,801
Okay.

250
00:14:46,010 --> 00:14:47,177
[Austin] Why?
Then we need your expertise.

251
00:14:47,387 --> 00:14:49,221
There's all these birds
flyin' around.

252
00:14:52,225 --> 00:14:54,351
[Heather] Such a amazing
way to start the day.

253
00:14:54,561 --> 00:14:57,855
Just you out there,
listening to the birdsong,

254
00:14:58,606 --> 00:14:59,982
takin' everything in.

255
00:15:00,191 --> 00:15:02,276
And it's like
such a great time to see

256
00:15:02,485 --> 00:15:05,028
all kinds of wildlife.

257
00:15:05,238 --> 00:15:08,907
[Heather]
I grew up in Upstate, New York.

258
00:15:09,117 --> 00:15:13,036
Went to college at Cornell
where I studied ecology.

259
00:15:14,289 --> 00:15:17,541
I worked for about five years
as a field biologist.

260
00:15:17,750 --> 00:15:21,253
Then I pursued
my masters in The Big Bend

261
00:15:21,462 --> 00:15:23,255
and fell in love
with the border.

262
00:15:26,509 --> 00:15:30,095
On this trip,
I'm going to be doing

263
00:15:30,305 --> 00:15:35,350
as many bird surveys
along the route as I can fit in.

264
00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:38,896
My intention
is to survey these areas

265
00:15:39,105 --> 00:15:43,567
that nobody has
really surveyed birds before

266
00:15:43,776 --> 00:15:47,237
to see what the biodiversity is

267
00:15:47,447 --> 00:15:50,449
before a potential
border wall is built.

268
00:15:53,995 --> 00:15:56,246
When you think
a high bird diversity

269
00:15:56,456 --> 00:16:00,918
or just high biodiversity,
you don't think of a desert.

270
00:16:01,127 --> 00:16:06,840
But it's some of the highest
vegetation diversity,
and therefore bird diversity,

271
00:16:07,050 --> 00:16:09,551
because you have
all these different elevations

272
00:16:09,761 --> 00:16:13,055
and you have the
Rio Grande going through

273
00:16:13,264 --> 00:16:16,642
that creates
a completely different habitat.

274
00:16:18,436 --> 00:16:21,563
If you're just cruisin' on by,
you're gonna think

275
00:16:21,773 --> 00:16:23,941
there's not anything here.

276
00:16:24,150 --> 00:16:27,361
But if you just stop,
and like look around,

277
00:16:27,570 --> 00:16:30,489
and listen for a little bit,
you realize this place is alive.

278
00:16:30,698 --> 00:16:33,158
[Suspenseful music]

279
00:17:02,271 --> 00:17:04,481
[Ben] The Rio Grande
is the fourth longest river

280
00:17:04,691 --> 00:17:06,441
in North America.

281
00:17:06,651 --> 00:17:09,486
It starts in Colorado,
flows through New Mexico,

282
00:17:09,696 --> 00:17:13,991
and becomes the US-Mexico border
for over 1,200 miles in Texas.

283
00:17:15,785 --> 00:17:18,328
There are so many
dams and diversions

284
00:17:18,538 --> 00:17:22,207
that the Rio Grande
runs dry below El Paso.

285
00:17:22,417 --> 00:17:25,502
And for nearly 300 miles,
there is little to no water.

286
00:17:26,629 --> 00:17:28,255
The Forgotten Reach.

287
00:17:30,550 --> 00:17:32,134
[Playing the harmonica]

288
00:17:37,181 --> 00:17:38,515
- [Heather] Well.
- [Austin] Let me
help you out with that.

289
00:17:38,725 --> 00:17:39,641
We're fucked.

290
00:17:39,851 --> 00:17:41,059
It's home.

291
00:17:46,315 --> 00:17:47,607
[Filipe]
We'd start riding our bikes,

292
00:17:50,236 --> 00:17:52,362
and the ride's
goin' pretty well,

293
00:17:52,572 --> 00:17:56,199
and then out of nowhere snow
just starts dumpin' on us.

294
00:18:00,830 --> 00:18:03,081
[Wind blowing]

295
00:18:06,794 --> 00:18:10,464
[Ben] I'm doing a...
Bring the toes back alive again.

296
00:18:12,300 --> 00:18:15,052
[Jay] Wow, these
are some big flakes.

297
00:18:18,347 --> 00:18:19,639
The temperature is dropping.

298
00:18:29,192 --> 00:18:32,736
[Heather] The roads are
very quickly degrading.

299
00:18:32,945 --> 00:18:34,446
You can ride for a little while

300
00:18:34,655 --> 00:18:39,242
and then the...
the wheels just accumulate mud.

301
00:18:39,452 --> 00:18:42,370
It's still like
spring conditions everywhere.

302
00:18:42,580 --> 00:18:43,747
[Austin grunting]

303
00:18:45,541 --> 00:18:48,752
[Austin] I've never
been scared away from...

304
00:18:48,961 --> 00:18:51,797
from getting you know, down to
business and getting it done.

305
00:18:53,341 --> 00:18:54,424
[Austin grunting]

306
00:18:56,844 --> 00:18:58,303
[Austin] But dang,
that was some serious mud.

307
00:18:58,513 --> 00:19:00,180
That was class five mud
right there.

308
00:19:01,432 --> 00:19:02,682
[Austin grunting]

309
00:19:22,245 --> 00:19:26,414
At some point,
you're not riding the bike,

310
00:19:26,624 --> 00:19:28,792
the bike is riding you.

311
00:19:29,001 --> 00:19:32,796
And uh, you're starting
to question the process.

312
00:19:33,005 --> 00:19:35,090
[Filipe sniffles
and takes a deep breath]

313
00:19:35,299 --> 00:19:39,219
[Filipe]
This thing is freaking heavy.

314
00:19:39,428 --> 00:19:40,387
[Taking deep breaths]

315
00:19:50,606 --> 00:19:55,152
[Filipe]
We wake up the next morning,
decide just to dump the bikes.

316
00:19:55,361 --> 00:19:59,322
We left our support crew
and we continued on by foot.

317
00:20:16,924 --> 00:20:18,425
[Filipe grunting]

318
00:20:25,933 --> 00:20:27,267
[Filipe] Literally, on my knees.

319
00:20:34,233 --> 00:20:35,734
What about
in going to the valley

320
00:20:35,943 --> 00:20:38,904
or like goin' even farther up
and goin' up and over this?

321
00:20:39,989 --> 00:20:40,864
Is that an option?

322
00:20:42,533 --> 00:20:45,493
[Jay] I think our reference
point is [indistinct].

323
00:20:46,704 --> 00:20:48,455
[Jay] We'll just have
to go around and come back.

324
00:20:55,338 --> 00:20:56,880
[Filipe] Sorry, keep running.

325
00:20:57,089 --> 00:21:00,342
- [Filipe] Keep going.
- That's it, yeah.

326
00:21:00,551 --> 00:21:03,386
For the first time
in this trip, I mean we're
only a week into the trip,

327
00:21:03,596 --> 00:21:05,305
but today is the first day

328
00:21:05,514 --> 00:21:08,308
that we got
a real first hand perspective

329
00:21:08,517 --> 00:21:10,560
of what somebody would
have to go through

330
00:21:10,770 --> 00:21:12,354
if they were to cross illegally.

331
00:21:12,563 --> 00:21:13,897
They wouldn't
be doing it on horseback,

332
00:21:14,106 --> 00:21:15,398
they wouldn't be
doing it on a canoe,

333
00:21:15,608 --> 00:21:17,192
they wouldn't
be doing it on bike.

334
00:21:17,401 --> 00:21:18,735
- [Filipe] They'd be walking...
- [Ben] For three months.

335
00:21:23,407 --> 00:21:26,284
We came over
to the US from Brazil

336
00:21:26,494 --> 00:21:27,953
when I was about six years old.

337
00:21:29,747 --> 00:21:31,456
I was born in the countryside.

338
00:21:32,583 --> 00:21:34,209
I remember traveling
in the Amazon

339
00:21:34,418 --> 00:21:36,962
and you know,
life being carefree in a way.

340
00:21:39,632 --> 00:21:43,260
And then
we were displaced from a flood.

341
00:21:47,056 --> 00:21:49,516
Growing up in Rio de Janeiro,

342
00:21:49,725 --> 00:21:53,520
we were living in the most
notorious ghetto in the world

343
00:21:54,438 --> 00:21:59,442
very much
at the forefront of drugs,
and the cartel and violence.

344
00:22:00,653 --> 00:22:02,696
Anything was better in her eyes.

345
00:22:08,577 --> 00:22:11,371
We flew over here because
my mom had a worker visa.

346
00:22:12,665 --> 00:22:14,708
And we came over,
me and mom, my sister.

347
00:22:17,962 --> 00:22:20,588
I think it was
my mom's intention

348
00:22:20,798 --> 00:22:24,509
to come over here
and create a new life

349
00:22:24,719 --> 00:22:27,470
for me and my sister,
without my dad,

350
00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:30,682
because he was just
a nightmare of a human being.

351
00:22:30,891 --> 00:22:33,810
He was really abusive and...
and addicted to drugs,

352
00:22:34,020 --> 00:22:37,314
and you know,
not the kind of person

353
00:22:37,523 --> 00:22:39,941
that she wanted
to raise her kids.

354
00:22:42,361 --> 00:22:44,612
What I don't think
she expected was that

355
00:22:44,822 --> 00:22:48,867
he was going to get rid of
all of our legal documents.

356
00:22:51,370 --> 00:22:54,289
She was faced with
a very difficult decision.

357
00:22:54,498 --> 00:22:58,376
Go back to Brazil,
and then try and come back um,

358
00:22:58,586 --> 00:23:00,503
another way through immigration

359
00:23:00,713 --> 00:23:02,380
or just stay here
and figure it out.

360
00:23:04,383 --> 00:23:08,386
[Filipe]
Ultimately that meant for about
14 years, we stayed illegally.

361
00:23:24,904 --> 00:23:29,741
There are four avenues
or categories through which
one can immigrate legally

362
00:23:29,950 --> 00:23:33,912
in to the United States.
The first and the most
common is one based

363
00:23:34,121 --> 00:23:37,540
on family reunification
where preference is given

364
00:23:37,750 --> 00:23:41,378
to the immediate family members.

365
00:23:41,587 --> 00:23:45,048
[Victoria]
The second route is through
employer-based immigration.

366
00:23:47,093 --> 00:23:50,637
The third is through
the refugee or asylee process.

367
00:23:52,848 --> 00:23:56,851
And the last category is through
the diversity visa lottery.

368
00:23:58,854 --> 00:24:01,064
If you look
at the past 10 or 15 years,

369
00:24:01,273 --> 00:24:04,067
you see a levelling out
for about 1 million per year.

370
00:24:04,276 --> 00:24:05,610
There is a cap to that.

371
00:24:08,948 --> 00:24:11,449
Folks don't choose
to be undocumented.

372
00:24:13,786 --> 00:24:15,829
When somebody says:
"Get in line",

373
00:24:16,038 --> 00:24:18,164
many times there aren't lines.

374
00:24:20,876 --> 00:24:24,587
[Beto]
The flow of migration to the US

375
00:24:24,797 --> 00:24:26,840
is really a function
of our economy.

376
00:24:27,049 --> 00:24:30,677
The function
of economies uh, in the
Americas and it's hemisphere,

377
00:24:30,886 --> 00:24:34,973
a function of um, the kind
of violence and brutality,

378
00:24:35,182 --> 00:24:38,977
civil wars and death
that you find in Central America

379
00:24:39,186 --> 00:24:41,813
that... that you have
found off and on in... in Mexico.

380
00:24:42,022 --> 00:24:44,023
There's also a
misconception about Mexico.

381
00:24:45,151 --> 00:24:48,778
We are at net zero um,
immigration with Mexico,

382
00:24:48,988 --> 00:24:51,823
which means it's not
a plus or minus, right.

383
00:24:52,032 --> 00:24:54,367
Uh, most people will think that

384
00:24:54,577 --> 00:24:57,745
you know,
most of the illegal immigration
is coming from Mexico.

385
00:24:57,955 --> 00:25:00,790
It's not. It's coming
from Central America.

386
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,042
Mexico is actually
a partner of ours

387
00:25:03,252 --> 00:25:05,128
in trying
to stop illegal immigration,

388
00:25:05,337 --> 00:25:07,714
because they are dealing
with some of the similar issues

389
00:25:07,923 --> 00:25:09,215
on their southern border.

390
00:25:11,594 --> 00:25:13,052
[Cicadas singing]

391
00:25:16,724 --> 00:25:19,934
- [Austin] Wow!
Wow, look at this!
- [Filipe] it's right there, man.

392
00:25:20,144 --> 00:25:21,853
- [Austin] Wow!
- [Jay] It made me go so fast.

393
00:25:22,062 --> 00:25:24,981
- [Austin] I'm so glad
it's pavement.
- [Ben] No mud. [kissing]

394
00:25:25,191 --> 00:25:28,151
[Austin]
I'm just gonna do this,
'cause my knees can't bend.

395
00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:30,612
[Laughing]

396
00:25:31,822 --> 00:25:33,948
[Soft guitar music]

397
00:25:42,833 --> 00:25:46,920
[Ben]
When that trailer pulled in, my
heart just like filled with joy.

398
00:25:48,839 --> 00:25:50,798
It symbolized
the end of the bicycle,

399
00:25:51,008 --> 00:25:53,468
which is like the greatest

400
00:25:53,677 --> 00:25:55,595
thing that's
happened thus far on the trip.

401
00:25:56,805 --> 00:25:58,848
- [Donkey braying]
- [All laughing]

402
00:26:00,935 --> 00:26:03,186
- [Indistinct]
- Here's your horse.

403
00:26:03,395 --> 00:26:06,189
- Alright, let's do it.
- [Ben] Your horse's
name is "Donkey Dust".

404
00:26:06,398 --> 00:26:08,650
[Laughing]

405
00:26:08,859 --> 00:26:10,777
I think I'm ready
for a new life together.

406
00:26:10,986 --> 00:26:11,778
[Laughing]

407
00:26:11,987 --> 00:26:13,112
Alright, we'll see you.

408
00:26:13,322 --> 00:26:14,948
[Laughing]

409
00:26:15,991 --> 00:26:18,535
[Ben] Now, I've been
fortunate to work on ranches

410
00:26:18,744 --> 00:26:22,956
and to do a lot of packed trips
all over the American West.

411
00:26:24,667 --> 00:26:26,918
And then this is Dinosaur.

412
00:26:27,127 --> 00:26:30,755
[Ben] My mustangs are so good,
they know how to ride.

413
00:26:30,965 --> 00:26:32,799
- He's a beautiful mustang.
- Yeah.

414
00:26:35,135 --> 00:26:36,970
[Ben] I knew they would
take good care of everybody,

415
00:26:38,013 --> 00:26:41,140
which is very important,
because Filipe...

416
00:26:42,309 --> 00:26:44,561
no idea how to ride a horse.

417
00:26:44,770 --> 00:26:45,728
[Filipe]
You think she'll let me on?

418
00:26:46,689 --> 00:26:48,690
You have riding boots.

419
00:26:52,111 --> 00:26:54,195
- [Austin] What do you need, huh?
- How do you get on?

420
00:26:54,405 --> 00:26:55,280
[Ben] Just hop on!

421
00:26:59,618 --> 00:27:00,827
[Austin] You know you got it.

422
00:27:02,121 --> 00:27:03,079
[Laughing]

423
00:27:07,793 --> 00:27:09,335
Yeah, buddy!

424
00:27:10,879 --> 00:27:12,088
Alright, let's go.

425
00:27:12,298 --> 00:27:13,506
[Austin] Let's go.

426
00:27:13,716 --> 00:27:14,841
- Help me, help me get off.
- Okay, come on.

427
00:27:15,050 --> 00:27:16,634
Alright, hold on.

428
00:27:16,844 --> 00:27:19,262
Alright.
Now, I'm gonna ride Ben around.

429
00:27:19,471 --> 00:27:21,264
Come on, Ben!

430
00:27:21,473 --> 00:27:24,892
[Heather] I've been on a horse
a handful of times

431
00:27:25,102 --> 00:27:29,355
like the touristy
situation or like a
birthday party or something.

432
00:27:30,691 --> 00:27:32,609
I'm not particularly concerned.

433
00:27:32,818 --> 00:27:34,902
I trust Ben's judgment.

434
00:27:35,112 --> 00:27:37,155
You know,
which maybe I shouldn't.

435
00:27:38,407 --> 00:27:39,699
[Filipe] Let's ride!

436
00:27:39,908 --> 00:27:41,200
[Everybody cheering]

437
00:27:45,789 --> 00:27:49,042
[Ben]
The part that I was most excited
about was the Big Bend.

438
00:27:51,211 --> 00:27:54,631
Big Bend Ranch State Park
is 300,000 acres.

439
00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:57,383
Big Bend Ranch National Park
is 800,000 acres.

440
00:28:01,221 --> 00:28:05,058
Combined, it's this massive
relatively untouched habitat.

441
00:28:09,271 --> 00:28:10,730
[Jay] An ancestor of mine,

442
00:28:10,939 --> 00:28:13,149
who was
Parks and Wildlife Commissioner

443
00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:16,235
back in the '30s and '40s,
visited this country

444
00:28:16,445 --> 00:28:20,073
when they were
looking at designating
Big Bend National Park.

445
00:28:21,700 --> 00:28:23,993
And he was
a relatively famous rancher.

446
00:28:24,203 --> 00:28:25,995
So that's in his blood
like he sees the land

447
00:28:26,205 --> 00:28:29,082
and he sees how am I gonna
produce off of that land.

448
00:28:29,291 --> 00:28:31,000
And his comment

449
00:28:31,210 --> 00:28:33,836
that the highest
and best use for that land

450
00:28:34,046 --> 00:28:36,255
is for public recreation.

451
00:28:38,801 --> 00:28:41,719
We're sitting on
the results of that legacy.

452
00:28:43,806 --> 00:28:46,265
It's important for me
to complete that circle,

453
00:28:47,476 --> 00:28:51,270
and try and protect
an area that he saw promising.

454
00:28:52,314 --> 00:28:55,274
That's threatened
right now by the law.

455
00:28:56,860 --> 00:29:01,698
And so if I can do something
to sort of protect that legacy,

456
00:29:01,907 --> 00:29:05,201
then I feel like that's
an important part of...

457
00:29:05,411 --> 00:29:06,703
of my life right now.

458
00:29:18,006 --> 00:29:18,881
[Whistling]

459
00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:22,969
[Ben] Pay attention, boys.

460
00:29:23,178 --> 00:29:24,345
[Whistling]

461
00:29:26,515 --> 00:29:28,015
[Ben] Rocks!

462
00:29:28,225 --> 00:29:30,101
Easy, Tough, easy, easy.

463
00:29:30,310 --> 00:29:32,061
[Heather] Alright, go ahead now.

464
00:29:33,439 --> 00:29:35,481
[Ben] Yeah,
this is definitely a walker.

465
00:29:36,483 --> 00:29:38,151
- [Ben] Yeah.
- [Heather] Carrying a lot, yeah.

466
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,320
30 minutes in adventure mode,
engaged.

467
00:29:42,781 --> 00:29:44,282
[Ben] This area is

468
00:29:44,491 --> 00:29:47,076
some of the gnarliest,
rockiest, nastiest

469
00:29:47,286 --> 00:29:48,494
terrain I've ever been in.

470
00:29:52,332 --> 00:29:56,043
Every single piece of vegetation
out here has thorns

471
00:29:56,253 --> 00:29:58,045
and stickers and cactus.

472
00:30:05,888 --> 00:30:07,972
[Heather] Alright.

473
00:30:08,182 --> 00:30:09,432
[Heather] Good, good.

474
00:30:09,641 --> 00:30:11,100
[Filipe] Dude, these mustangs

475
00:30:11,310 --> 00:30:13,186
are made for the backcountry.

476
00:30:14,229 --> 00:30:19,108
Fortunately, all my mustangs,
they were all born in the wild

477
00:30:19,318 --> 00:30:21,819
on public lands
in the American West.

478
00:30:22,029 --> 00:30:24,197
[Background music]

479
00:30:24,406 --> 00:30:28,409
[Ben] They grew up in desolate
harsh landscapes like this.

480
00:30:29,578 --> 00:30:32,079
They know how to walk
through this country,

481
00:30:32,289 --> 00:30:33,956
they know how to meander
through the rocks,

482
00:30:34,166 --> 00:30:37,168
and stay away from the cactus,
and how to navigate

483
00:30:37,377 --> 00:30:39,212
through cliffs
and difficult terrain.

484
00:30:40,380 --> 00:30:41,839
It makes me proud to...

485
00:30:42,925 --> 00:30:45,259
to see my ponies take care
of everybody so well

486
00:30:45,469 --> 00:30:47,470
and take care
of themselves so well.

487
00:30:47,679 --> 00:30:49,388
They are great...
they're great horses.

488
00:30:51,850 --> 00:30:53,434
Yeah, I like [indistinct]

489
00:30:53,644 --> 00:30:56,145
[Ben] Five years ago,
some friends and I went out

490
00:30:56,355 --> 00:30:57,438
and adopted these mustangs,

491
00:30:59,107 --> 00:31:03,152
trained them and rode 3,000
miles from Mexico to Canada

492
00:31:03,362 --> 00:31:05,238
through public lands
in the American West.

493
00:31:09,034 --> 00:31:12,370
That experience
completely changed my life

494
00:31:12,579 --> 00:31:16,165
and gave me a huge appreciation
not only for these horses,

495
00:31:16,375 --> 00:31:17,583
but for public lands.

496
00:31:20,254 --> 00:31:23,840
Less than 3% of Texas
is open to the public.

497
00:31:24,049 --> 00:31:24,841
That's it.

498
00:31:25,968 --> 00:31:29,136
And there is no way
that you could put a border wall

499
00:31:29,346 --> 00:31:32,056
even close to the river
in a lot of this country.

500
00:31:35,060 --> 00:31:37,019
It'd have to be built inland,

501
00:31:37,229 --> 00:31:41,524
bulldozed, and slicing apart the
only big chunk of public land

502
00:31:41,733 --> 00:31:43,276
that we have left in Texas,

503
00:31:44,236 --> 00:31:47,572
essentially blocking us
from the Rio Grande.

504
00:31:55,330 --> 00:31:57,290
[Austin] You can feel
the crisp air right by the Rio.

505
00:31:59,293 --> 00:32:00,918
[Heather]
Look at all that water.

506
00:32:01,128 --> 00:32:02,211
It's the first time
we've been in the river.

507
00:32:02,421 --> 00:32:04,881
[Background music]

508
00:32:08,343 --> 00:32:11,470
This is kind of
emotional right now.

509
00:32:13,682 --> 00:32:15,141
I'm giddy.

510
00:32:15,350 --> 00:32:16,350
[Austin] Oh yeah.

511
00:32:20,981 --> 00:32:22,189
[Austin] He couldn't resist.

512
00:32:22,399 --> 00:32:23,357
[Jay] There he is.

513
00:32:26,278 --> 00:32:27,445
[Cheering]

514
00:32:29,531 --> 00:32:32,033
It's amazing,
it's beautiful, and it's

515
00:32:32,242 --> 00:32:34,410
the lifeblood
of this entire area.

516
00:32:34,620 --> 00:32:36,078
And uh...

517
00:32:37,164 --> 00:32:39,081
You don't really think
about the politics behind it.

518
00:32:39,291 --> 00:32:40,917
- Watch out!
- [Filipe] If they could
see this...

519
00:32:41,126 --> 00:32:44,045
I'm sorry I can't pay attention
with this going on.

520
00:32:44,254 --> 00:32:45,630
- [Austin] Are you coming?
- [Shouting]

521
00:32:46,590 --> 00:32:49,258
- I'm not...
I'm not wearing a underwear!
- [Austin] Come on!

522
00:32:49,468 --> 00:32:52,261
- Perfect.
- Alright, my bike shorts
need washing.

523
00:32:54,056 --> 00:32:56,098
[Ben]
Oh, this is a terrible idea.

524
00:32:57,309 --> 00:32:58,351
[Jay] Yeah, you better jump in.

525
00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:00,061
[Heather] Get your ass in here!

526
00:33:00,270 --> 00:33:01,145
[Ben] I'm comin'!

527
00:33:03,065 --> 00:33:05,191
[Cheering and laughing]

528
00:33:24,086 --> 00:33:26,712
[Calm music]

529
00:33:33,679 --> 00:33:37,056
Big Bend is... it's one of
those vast landscapes

530
00:33:37,265 --> 00:33:39,976
that is unlike any other.

531
00:33:41,728 --> 00:33:44,146
There's just
a huge amount of diversity

532
00:33:44,356 --> 00:33:46,983
from large mammals all
the way down to the smallest.

533
00:33:48,485 --> 00:33:52,697
[Dr. Louis]
And we rely on Mexico
for some of these populations.

534
00:33:54,783 --> 00:33:58,077
Black bear is probably
the best example of that.

535
00:33:58,286 --> 00:34:01,038
You know, we basically
extirpated black bears

536
00:34:01,248 --> 00:34:04,333
from the Big Bend region
of Texas uh, in the 1950s,

537
00:34:04,543 --> 00:34:06,419
uh, hunting, trapping,
things like that.

538
00:34:08,588 --> 00:34:13,342
Until about 1990, we had a...
a lone female come across

539
00:34:13,552 --> 00:34:16,429
and uh, she had cubs,
that population started to grow.

540
00:34:26,481 --> 00:34:30,651
And now we have 40, 50, maybe
even 100 bears in Texas today

541
00:34:30,861 --> 00:34:32,778
and that is solely
dependent on Mexico.

542
00:34:35,824 --> 00:34:38,242
Our large mammals,
they cross that river

543
00:34:38,452 --> 00:34:40,286
sometimes on a daily basis.

544
00:34:43,540 --> 00:34:45,583
If those porters are cut off

545
00:34:47,127 --> 00:34:49,503
you know, if there...
there is a wall there,

546
00:34:49,713 --> 00:34:51,547
it's gonna cut off
that water source.

547
00:34:51,757 --> 00:34:54,050
We would start seeing
issues genetically.

548
00:34:55,677 --> 00:34:58,095
They need to be able
to move freely

549
00:34:58,305 --> 00:34:59,555
to be able to survive.

550
00:35:02,851 --> 00:35:05,102
- [Ben whistling]
- [Heather] Donkey found
some shade.

551
00:35:06,104 --> 00:35:08,022
[Filipe] Oh, she did.
Look at her over there.

552
00:35:08,231 --> 00:35:09,398
[Heather]
Oh, she's got a little patch.

553
00:35:09,608 --> 00:35:11,650
I would think
that after a few hours

554
00:35:11,860 --> 00:35:15,071
- you would start to
like get the motion down.
- Yes. Yeah.

555
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:16,530
But it still hasn't happened.

556
00:35:18,325 --> 00:35:21,243
[Filipe] I mean I'm not
ruling kids out, but you know...

557
00:35:21,453 --> 00:35:22,620
[Ben laughing]

558
00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:47,603
[Jay] I think it's been
a total shock to Heather

559
00:35:47,813 --> 00:35:50,481
and Filipe and Austin's body,

560
00:35:50,690 --> 00:35:55,736
because those are parts
of your body and muscles

561
00:35:55,946 --> 00:35:58,364
that you don't normally use.

562
00:36:01,159 --> 00:36:02,284
[Heather] Describe the pain.

563
00:36:02,494 --> 00:36:05,079
Describe the pain.

564
00:36:05,288 --> 00:36:07,623
Imagine Bob the Builder
jackhammering away

565
00:36:07,833 --> 00:36:10,292
at your business region
for like 20 miles.

566
00:36:10,502 --> 00:36:13,170
[Upbeat country music]

567
00:36:15,882 --> 00:36:18,467
I couldn't quite get the posture

568
00:36:18,677 --> 00:36:20,636
and the trot formation down.

569
00:36:20,846 --> 00:36:24,640
So instead of like posting
and you know, just kind of like

570
00:36:24,850 --> 00:36:27,143
doing that dance with the horse,

571
00:36:27,352 --> 00:36:28,394
I was just bein'...

572
00:36:38,864 --> 00:36:42,408
But with that being said,
it was... it was emotional.

573
00:36:42,617 --> 00:36:43,868
[Yelling]

574
00:36:46,246 --> 00:36:48,330
You don't connect with a bicycle

575
00:36:48,540 --> 00:36:52,585
or a unicycle or a canoe the
same way you do with a horse.

576
00:36:54,588 --> 00:36:57,464
The only thing cooler
than being on top of the world

577
00:36:57,674 --> 00:36:59,341
is being on top
of the world on a horse.

578
00:37:08,727 --> 00:37:12,354
[Background chatter]

579
00:37:16,860 --> 00:37:19,820
[Jay]
Visually you think that you can
take off, ride somewhere,

580
00:37:20,030 --> 00:37:22,615
and then all of a sudden
there is a 100-footed rail.

581
00:37:24,326 --> 00:37:26,493
There's just no trails
in some of this country.

582
00:37:30,957 --> 00:37:31,957
I don't know.

583
00:37:33,627 --> 00:37:35,419
I don't know about this.

584
00:37:35,629 --> 00:37:38,297
[Indistinct]

585
00:37:38,506 --> 00:37:39,757
[Heather]
Yeah, I don't... I don't know

586
00:37:39,966 --> 00:37:42,259
if we're gonna
just be bold and keep goin'.

587
00:37:53,772 --> 00:37:55,439
[Jay] It's like some of the
most rugged country that...

588
00:37:55,649 --> 00:37:57,233
that I've ever
been through in Texas,

589
00:37:57,442 --> 00:37:59,860
because you just have
these boxed canyons and this...

590
00:38:00,070 --> 00:38:03,322
these sheer rock faces on...
on either side of you.

591
00:38:15,919 --> 00:38:18,003
Yeah, hold off on that route.

592
00:38:27,722 --> 00:38:29,765
[Austin] Look to the right.

593
00:38:29,975 --> 00:38:30,933
We're boxed in.

594
00:38:31,142 --> 00:38:32,268
It's a boxed canyon.

595
00:38:33,353 --> 00:38:34,770
I was thinking w... yeah.

596
00:38:34,980 --> 00:38:37,606
Could we not
get semi-high ground?

597
00:38:37,816 --> 00:38:40,943
The smartest thing
to do is turn around

598
00:38:41,152 --> 00:38:42,736
and go back the way we came.

599
00:38:43,822 --> 00:38:48,784
I feel about 95% confident
that the game trail

600
00:38:48,994 --> 00:38:53,580
that does go up, would be
perfectly fine for our horses,

601
00:38:53,790 --> 00:38:58,252
but that 5% risk is something
that I'm not willing to risk

602
00:38:58,461 --> 00:38:59,420
with these guys.

603
00:39:00,588 --> 00:39:01,880
So let's just head on out,

604
00:39:02,090 --> 00:39:04,049
then that way everybody
will be safe.

605
00:39:08,054 --> 00:39:12,641
This area is
as difficult as any landscape

606
00:39:12,851 --> 00:39:14,351
that I've been to in the West.

607
00:39:15,437 --> 00:39:19,940
I don't see how you could build
a physical border wall

608
00:39:20,150 --> 00:39:23,444
that's more difficult to cross
through than this landscape.

609
00:39:25,572 --> 00:39:27,281
[Will] One of the things
that I've been frustrated with

610
00:39:27,490 --> 00:39:29,575
when it comes
to border security is

611
00:39:29,784 --> 00:39:31,785
we try to have
a one-size-fits-all solution.

612
00:39:31,995 --> 00:39:36,498
Uh, you can't, because every
mile is... is different.

613
00:39:36,708 --> 00:39:40,961
You have the Rio Grande,
you have the canyons,

614
00:39:42,047 --> 00:39:43,964
the Chihuahuan Desert,
and you already have

615
00:39:44,174 --> 00:39:46,050
a physical barrier
called mountains.

616
00:39:47,761 --> 00:39:50,888
In some areas where
Border Patrol response time

617
00:39:51,097 --> 00:39:55,017
is measured in hours to days,

618
00:39:55,226 --> 00:39:58,645
a wall is not
a physical barrier, right?

619
00:39:58,855 --> 00:40:02,358
In some places, where there
is urban to urban contact,

620
00:40:02,567 --> 00:40:06,695
a fence makes sense,
because Border Patrol
can measure the response time

621
00:40:06,905 --> 00:40:08,530
in seconds to minutes.

622
00:40:08,740 --> 00:40:11,283
But doing it in
the desert and in Big Bend,

623
00:40:11,493 --> 00:40:12,785
that's just crazy.

624
00:40:16,498 --> 00:40:19,708
Building a wall
from sea to shining sea

625
00:40:19,918 --> 00:40:22,711
is the most expensive
and least effective way

626
00:40:22,921 --> 00:40:23,962
to do border security.

627
00:40:34,182 --> 00:40:36,558
[Speaking Spanish]

628
00:40:38,478 --> 00:40:40,396
Another beautiful morning
in the Rio Grande.

629
00:40:53,201 --> 00:40:54,451
[Filipe] We're going to Mexico!

630
00:40:55,662 --> 00:40:56,495
[Heather] Doin' it, guys!

631
00:40:56,704 --> 00:40:57,746
[Mexican music]

632
00:40:59,707 --> 00:41:01,417
[Immigration officer
speaking in Spanish]

633
00:41:01,626 --> 00:41:04,503
I'm officially in Mexico. Ahay!

634
00:41:04,712 --> 00:41:05,671
[Austin] Let's go get tacos.

635
00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:18,725
[Speaking Spanish]

636
00:41:18,935 --> 00:41:22,438
- [Mexican song playing]
- Oh!

637
00:41:22,647 --> 00:41:24,773
- [Austin] Oh!
- [Jay] Oh my gosh!

638
00:41:24,983 --> 00:41:26,942
- Oh, man!
- [Jay laughing]

639
00:41:27,152 --> 00:41:28,777
- [Filipe] Oh, these
enchiladas?
- [Heather] Um, so excited.

640
00:41:28,987 --> 00:41:30,446
Oh my gosh!

641
00:41:30,655 --> 00:41:32,030
- Mmm.
- [Ben] I have two spoons.

642
00:41:32,240 --> 00:41:33,615
- [Austin] Oh my God!
- [Ben] I mean two forks.

643
00:41:33,825 --> 00:41:34,783
[Heather] Perfect.

644
00:41:35,493 --> 00:41:38,203
- Hi, welcome.
- Thanks so much.

645
00:41:38,413 --> 00:41:40,289
Would you like to sit down?

646
00:41:41,332 --> 00:41:43,000
- Welcome.
- Thank you!

647
00:41:43,209 --> 00:41:47,379
Thank you for
eating our food.
I hope you like it.

648
00:41:47,589 --> 00:41:48,797
- It was delicious!
- The food is so good!

649
00:41:49,007 --> 00:41:50,632
Tell her, to eat
one of these tacos

650
00:41:50,884 --> 00:41:52,593
is like being
kissed by an angel.

651
00:41:53,136 --> 00:41:56,346
So, how long has
this restaurant been
in your family?

652
00:41:59,767 --> 00:42:01,560
[Ben] Oh my god, I'm full.

653
00:42:01,769 --> 00:42:03,937
[Background chatter]

654
00:42:04,147 --> 00:42:06,064
Jay, you got the time?

655
00:42:06,274 --> 00:42:08,025
11 to.

656
00:42:09,152 --> 00:42:10,819
[Speaking Spanish]

657
00:42:11,029 --> 00:42:12,529
- [Laughing]
- [Speaking Spanish]

658
00:42:12,739 --> 00:42:15,657
This is gonna be like my
Christmas present this year.

659
00:42:15,867 --> 00:42:18,744
[Filipe] Spread the wealth.
Spread the wealth. It stops.

660
00:42:19,537 --> 00:42:20,412
Chalo!

661
00:42:20,622 --> 00:42:22,206
- Pleasure to meet you.
- Very nice to meet you.

662
00:42:22,707 --> 00:42:25,000
Chalo here is telling us
about the uh, power plant

663
00:42:25,210 --> 00:42:27,628
that we should go check out.
From there it's a really good
view to look through.

664
00:42:27,837 --> 00:42:29,671
But it's a...
it's a solar power plant.

665
00:42:29,881 --> 00:42:30,964
- This is all solar power.
- [Jay] No way.

666
00:42:31,174 --> 00:42:32,424
It's the one that
provides electricity

667
00:42:32,634 --> 00:42:34,092
- to the whole town here.
- You're kidding.

668
00:42:34,761 --> 00:42:37,054
What do you believe
would happen here
in Boquillas

669
00:42:37,263 --> 00:42:39,765
if a wall were constructed?

670
00:42:40,558 --> 00:42:43,352
What would be affected...

671
00:42:44,187 --> 00:42:45,646
is the wildlife.

672
00:42:45,855 --> 00:42:48,690
Because there, if
we look here is a
mountain range here

673
00:42:48,900 --> 00:42:50,651
and a mountain range over there.

674
00:42:50,860 --> 00:42:53,153
And these mountain
ranges share the wildlife.

675
00:42:54,405 --> 00:42:57,366
Here, we've seen bears,

676
00:42:57,575 --> 00:43:00,994
black bears, lions.

677
00:43:01,204 --> 00:43:04,164
The lions come down
specifically because
there's a river,

678
00:43:04,374 --> 00:43:06,375
so they walk down
from the mountain.

679
00:43:06,584 --> 00:43:09,836
The wildlife is
something we value here

680
00:43:10,046 --> 00:43:14,383
apart from everything
else, it's also an
attraction for tourism.

681
00:43:14,592 --> 00:43:15,759
What do you think

682
00:43:15,969 --> 00:43:19,638
It's been eighty years that

683
00:43:19,847 --> 00:43:26,436
we've been thinking
and talking about
a binational park.

684
00:43:26,646 --> 00:43:29,648
What do you think is necessary

685
00:43:29,857 --> 00:43:34,820
to make it a reality?

686
00:43:35,029 --> 00:43:37,239
I would like it, and would
love to see it happen.

687
00:43:37,448 --> 00:43:40,450
I am willing to put my
part in what is necessary

688
00:43:40,660 --> 00:43:43,495
But people are
needed with the drive,

689
00:43:43,705 --> 00:43:47,499
that come with a
positive outlook, not
with a negative one.

690
00:43:48,334 --> 00:43:51,545
[Epic music]

691
00:43:51,754 --> 00:43:56,133
There's been talk about
a binational park for decades.

692
00:43:58,344 --> 00:44:01,638
There's millions of acres
that are already held

693
00:44:01,848 --> 00:44:03,932
in public trust
by both countries.

694
00:44:06,978 --> 00:44:09,104
It's time
to see somebody step forward

695
00:44:09,314 --> 00:44:12,858
and really shepherd that
and bring that into fruition.

696
00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:17,863
[Heather] It would be
a really natural step.

697
00:44:18,072 --> 00:44:22,367
There's already huge
protected lands on both sides.

698
00:44:23,786 --> 00:44:26,204
The river itself
is wild and scenic.

699
00:44:29,417 --> 00:44:34,129
There's populations of bear
and mountain lion

700
00:44:34,339 --> 00:44:37,132
and birds and butterflies
moving back and forth

701
00:44:37,342 --> 00:44:39,635
between the two protected areas.

702
00:44:40,762 --> 00:44:46,141
It blows my mind.
So many times I found myself
saying: "This is in Texas?

703
00:44:46,351 --> 00:44:51,813
Like we're not in Montana
or Yellowstone or Yosemite."

704
00:44:52,023 --> 00:44:53,774
You know,
this place is legendary.

705
00:44:55,693 --> 00:45:00,155
It's Texas' last chance
to create something truly great

706
00:45:00,365 --> 00:45:03,575
as far as
a huge intact ecosystem.

707
00:45:03,785 --> 00:45:05,410
And we can't do it
without Mexico.

708
00:45:07,288 --> 00:45:09,790
[Ben] On the last big horseback
journey, we rode through

709
00:45:09,999 --> 00:45:14,002
Waterton-Glacier
International Peace Park
on the US-Canada border,

710
00:45:16,756 --> 00:45:19,007
created to symbolize
a friendship

711
00:45:19,217 --> 00:45:22,427
and a shared ecosystem
between the two countries.

712
00:45:24,305 --> 00:45:26,390
That same opportunity
exists here.

713
00:45:30,436 --> 00:45:32,896
And it's a completely
different way

714
00:45:33,106 --> 00:45:34,940
to look at the US-Mexico border.

715
00:45:35,149 --> 00:45:37,734
[Epic music]

716
00:46:22,905 --> 00:46:24,114
[Filipe] Whoa, we got shadows!

717
00:46:24,323 --> 00:46:26,241
Yay, that's our goal!

718
00:46:27,827 --> 00:46:29,995
- [Filipe] Ben, get a photo!
- [Ben] I got it.

719
00:46:30,204 --> 00:46:32,748
- [Austin] Yeah, that's so neat.
- [Heather] Wow!

720
00:46:32,957 --> 00:46:33,957
[Austin] Isn't nature neat?

721
00:46:34,167 --> 00:46:35,834
[Heather] I... Good job, nature.

722
00:46:37,044 --> 00:46:40,881
- [Filipe] Good job.
- [Ben] Well, after riding
bicycles and riding horses,

723
00:46:41,090 --> 00:46:42,674
we've all come to
the agreement that they are

724
00:46:42,884 --> 00:46:45,093
a far superior form
of transportation.

725
00:46:45,303 --> 00:46:48,847
[All shouting]

726
00:46:49,056 --> 00:46:51,433
[Gentle guitar music]

727
00:46:51,642 --> 00:46:53,018
Alright, Tough.

728
00:46:55,897 --> 00:46:57,773
[Jay] Come on, donkey.

729
00:46:57,982 --> 00:46:59,441
[Ben] I think we might have
to pick her up.

730
00:46:59,650 --> 00:47:00,776
Come on, girlfriend.

731
00:47:00,985 --> 00:47:02,235
- [Jay] Aw!
- [Heather] Aw!

732
00:47:02,445 --> 00:47:04,863
- [Jay] That's a good girl
- [Heather] Great donkey.

733
00:47:05,072 --> 00:47:06,948
- [Heather] Ben, you...
- Ben, you stay in there.

734
00:47:08,117 --> 00:47:10,076
Actually, I feel like
staying with my horses.

735
00:47:10,286 --> 00:47:11,411
Bye, ponies.

736
00:47:11,621 --> 00:47:12,829
I miss you already.

737
00:47:13,039 --> 00:47:14,456
Oh! Be good, horses.

738
00:47:14,665 --> 00:47:15,874
- [Heather] Stay well, guys.
- See you, Star.

739
00:47:16,083 --> 00:47:18,084
Don't let anybody else ride you.

740
00:47:18,294 --> 00:47:19,920
That goes for
the rest of your life.

741
00:47:20,129 --> 00:47:21,129
Donkey, now, you too.

742
00:47:21,339 --> 00:47:22,297
- Oh, see, donkey is calling you.
- Man.

743
00:47:23,382 --> 00:47:24,466
It's sad to see him go.

744
00:47:25,510 --> 00:47:27,052
Let's go get us some canoes.

745
00:47:28,513 --> 00:47:30,263
Aw!

746
00:47:30,473 --> 00:47:33,141
[Gentle music]

747
00:47:36,229 --> 00:47:38,146
[Ben] Springs flow
in to the Rio Grande

748
00:47:38,356 --> 00:47:40,023
and Big Bend National Park,

749
00:47:40,233 --> 00:47:42,526
and there is now
enough water to paddle a canoe.

750
00:47:45,404 --> 00:47:47,197
For the next 150 miles,

751
00:47:47,406 --> 00:47:49,825
we are going to travel
through Boquillas Canyon

752
00:47:50,034 --> 00:47:53,161
and the Lower Canyons,
an area so special,

753
00:47:53,371 --> 00:47:56,289
and so rugged
that it is federally protected

754
00:47:56,499 --> 00:47:57,999
as a wild and scenic river.

755
00:48:02,255 --> 00:48:03,839
[Austin] I think
we needed to take account

756
00:48:04,966 --> 00:48:06,508
of what exactly
we're doing right now.

757
00:48:06,717 --> 00:48:08,385
We're going
into the most wild places

758
00:48:08,594 --> 00:48:09,928
in the state of Texas.

759
00:48:10,137 --> 00:48:12,097
We are going
into true wilderness

760
00:48:13,474 --> 00:48:14,891
where there's no support.

761
00:48:15,101 --> 00:48:16,268
Like our vehicles
have us supported on.

762
00:48:16,477 --> 00:48:18,103
I think all of us,

763
00:48:18,312 --> 00:48:21,273
we should have a higher sense
of risk management.

764
00:48:22,567 --> 00:48:23,900
[Jay] We got high pressure,

765
00:48:24,110 --> 00:48:28,238
500 cfs
and 15 miles to go today.

766
00:48:28,447 --> 00:48:32,075
750 left in the journey.

767
00:48:32,285 --> 00:48:33,118
Feelin' pretty good.

768
00:48:34,620 --> 00:48:37,038
[Austin]
The river does not discriminate,
it can be any of us.

769
00:48:38,541 --> 00:48:40,250
There is three kinds of boatmen.

770
00:48:40,459 --> 00:48:43,920
One that has flipped,
one that is going to flip,

771
00:48:44,130 --> 00:48:45,255
and one that is flipping.

772
00:48:47,341 --> 00:48:48,216
That's a fact.

773
00:48:52,346 --> 00:48:53,388
[Austin] Oh!

774
00:48:54,432 --> 00:48:56,892
- [Filipe] Oh, Austin dissipated.
- [Heather] What does that mean?

775
00:48:58,102 --> 00:49:00,061
- [Heather] Oh shit.
- [Austin] Oh shit.

776
00:49:00,271 --> 00:49:01,271
- Oh shit.
- [Austin chuckling]

777
00:49:01,480 --> 00:49:02,564
- [Filipe] Stay there, Ben.
- No, no!

778
00:49:02,773 --> 00:49:05,817
[All] No! No! No! No! No!

779
00:49:06,027 --> 00:49:07,319
- [Filipe] Not the camera
again, guys!
- [Heather] Oh my God!

780
00:49:07,528 --> 00:49:08,570
[Filipe]
There you go, there you go.

781
00:49:10,448 --> 00:49:13,074
[Austin]
It was good to acknowledge
that things can go bad.

782
00:49:13,284 --> 00:49:16,119
[Austin] And they can go
bad really fast and really easy.

783
00:49:16,329 --> 00:49:17,162
Make it on the...

784
00:49:18,414 --> 00:49:20,290
I know we just like to s...
like we were talking about just

785
00:49:20,499 --> 00:49:21,416
like going
and learning on the river,

786
00:49:21,626 --> 00:49:24,920
but like
if we can't handle this,

787
00:49:25,129 --> 00:49:26,963
we got no business
going up to Lower Canyons.

788
00:49:32,178 --> 00:49:35,931
[Epic music]

789
00:49:54,408 --> 00:49:56,576
[Jay] Yeah, I think Ben might
have seen them first.

790
00:49:56,786 --> 00:50:01,581
We kind of rounded the Bend
and they had been
drinking out of the river end.

791
00:50:01,791 --> 00:50:06,336
[Jay]
We pulled off and they were uh,
probably a dozen desert sheep.

792
00:50:06,545 --> 00:50:08,380
[Heather] There's at least
one up there with a collar.

793
00:50:08,589 --> 00:50:10,131
[Jay] Could you give
an estimate with out...

794
00:50:10,341 --> 00:50:11,967
[Jay] It was pretty spectacular
to have actually

795
00:50:12,176 --> 00:50:14,302
seen them utilizing the river.

796
00:50:14,512 --> 00:50:18,306
That... that sort of
hit home to me that
that's their water source.

797
00:50:18,516 --> 00:50:20,016
All you're you seeing
is a cool effort

798
00:50:20,226 --> 00:50:22,644
between US and Mexico,
'cause those sheep,

799
00:50:22,853 --> 00:50:24,980
they have no idea which
side of the river is which?

800
00:50:25,189 --> 00:50:26,523
And they're probably...
they're down here

801
00:50:26,732 --> 00:50:29,985
like drinking from the Rio
and probably cross over,

802
00:50:30,194 --> 00:50:32,237
- go into Mexico.
- You think they'll
cross into Mexico and...

803
00:50:32,446 --> 00:50:33,196
- Oh, for sure.
- Yeah?

804
00:50:33,406 --> 00:50:34,406
They've got collar data,

805
00:50:34,615 --> 00:50:35,490
they just use...

806
00:50:35,700 --> 00:50:37,200
They go all across in here.

807
00:50:38,744 --> 00:50:42,455
Yeah, it's
a cool history, because they
were completely eliminated

808
00:50:42,665 --> 00:50:44,207
out of this area.

809
00:50:44,417 --> 00:50:46,543
And then about 50 years ago,

810
00:50:46,752 --> 00:50:49,170
they started bringin' them back.
And they went from zero

811
00:50:49,380 --> 00:50:51,339
to where they now have
over 2,000 of 'em.

812
00:50:51,549 --> 00:50:53,508
It's like this huge story
of conservation...

813
00:50:53,718 --> 00:50:55,010
- [Filipe] Ben's boat!
- Success in this area.

814
00:50:55,219 --> 00:50:56,970
- [Heather] Oh shit!
- [Jay] Oh shit.

815
00:50:57,179 --> 00:50:58,555
- [Chuckling]
- Guys, help!

816
00:50:58,764 --> 00:51:01,266
- Hold this.
- I got distracted by the sheep.

817
00:51:02,476 --> 00:51:04,352
- [Chuckling]
- [Austin] You got a paddle?

818
00:51:04,562 --> 00:51:07,564
- He doesn't have a paddle!
- [Heather screaming]

819
00:51:07,773 --> 00:51:09,357
He's... he's gonna rev, Jay!

820
00:51:09,567 --> 00:51:12,277
[Laughing]

821
00:51:13,320 --> 00:51:15,447
[Filipe]
He doesn't know how to paddle.

822
00:51:15,656 --> 00:51:17,782
He's never steered before!

823
00:51:21,704 --> 00:51:24,205
[Gentle music]

824
00:51:26,375 --> 00:51:28,126
[Jay]
This environment on the river,

825
00:51:28,335 --> 00:51:30,253
Austin's just
had a lot of experience

826
00:51:30,463 --> 00:51:34,382
and so he really knows
how to like pace the group,

827
00:51:34,592 --> 00:51:37,552
he knows how to run rapids,
he knows how to scale.

828
00:51:37,762 --> 00:51:40,805
That was a new part of Austin
that we hadn't seen previously.

829
00:51:42,516 --> 00:51:45,018
This is a first class 3
that we've seen

830
00:51:45,227 --> 00:51:46,394
this entire time out here.

831
00:51:48,355 --> 00:51:51,357
We've got our rescue line ready

832
00:51:51,567 --> 00:51:56,112
in case he flips
and has to bend his boat.

833
00:51:56,322 --> 00:51:57,155
Here we go.

834
00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:02,202
Slight tip to the right.
Bow to the right.

835
00:52:02,411 --> 00:52:03,828
Wooh!

836
00:52:05,539 --> 00:52:06,748
[Heather] No thanks.

837
00:52:06,957 --> 00:52:08,124
Alright, I'm up.

838
00:52:09,543 --> 00:52:11,669
Paddle hard,
take chances, y'all!

839
00:52:11,879 --> 00:52:13,254
[Austin cheering]

840
00:52:13,464 --> 00:52:14,756
[Upbeat music]

841
00:52:14,965 --> 00:52:16,382
Yeah. Yeah.

842
00:52:16,592 --> 00:52:18,510
[Filipe] You guys
are makin' this look easy.

843
00:52:19,720 --> 00:52:22,180
- [Heather] Jay, come on!
- [Cheering]

844
00:52:22,389 --> 00:52:24,182
[Austin]
Stream it up, stream it up,
stream it up, stream it up!

845
00:52:24,391 --> 00:52:26,601
[Cheering]

846
00:52:26,811 --> 00:52:28,728
Yeah, that was great.
I loved it.

847
00:52:28,938 --> 00:52:31,064
Alright,
everybody else nailed it.

848
00:52:31,273 --> 00:52:33,399
So uh, we gotta
have one spill, right?

849
00:52:33,609 --> 00:52:35,068
[Filipe] Oh my god.

850
00:52:35,277 --> 00:52:38,655
- [Filipe] Oh no!
- [All yelling]

851
00:52:39,865 --> 00:52:41,366
[Cheering]

852
00:52:41,575 --> 00:52:43,409
[Heather]
That's it, that's it, that's it.

853
00:52:45,412 --> 00:52:47,288
[Laughing]

854
00:52:47,498 --> 00:52:48,873
[Austin]
You lucky son of a bitch!

855
00:52:50,251 --> 00:52:52,418
Hey, I tried to
make it interesting for you!

856
00:53:02,555 --> 00:53:05,431
[Heather] People are
not thinking of this area

857
00:53:06,559 --> 00:53:08,476
when they're
picturing the border

858
00:53:08,686 --> 00:53:12,105
and building a border wall.

859
00:53:12,314 --> 00:53:14,607
I think they're
thinking of the cities.

860
00:53:18,487 --> 00:53:20,613
It's this wild place
that's super rugged

861
00:53:20,823 --> 00:53:22,699
and hard to get through anyway.

862
00:53:24,535 --> 00:53:27,787
Why would we
construct a barrier there?

863
00:53:27,997 --> 00:53:29,247
A manmade barrier.

864
00:53:32,376 --> 00:53:36,212
This is like going
through the Grand Canyon,

865
00:53:36,422 --> 00:53:40,175
paddling the Colorado
without the crowds.

866
00:53:40,384 --> 00:53:46,347
It's just as... as remote,
and grand, and wild.

867
00:54:03,741 --> 00:54:06,201
[Birds chirping]

868
00:54:23,385 --> 00:54:27,180
[Austin]
One of my biggest joys
is that I get to show people

869
00:54:27,389 --> 00:54:29,307
what I love,
and that's the Rio Grande.

870
00:54:31,727 --> 00:54:36,439
The first time it impacted me
was when I came here in college.

871
00:54:36,649 --> 00:54:40,735
Uh, I was actually coming here
to train to be a river guide

872
00:54:40,945 --> 00:54:44,656
and the first trip
I ever did was Dark Canyon,

873
00:54:44,865 --> 00:54:46,366
which is a short,
but tall canyon.

874
00:54:46,575 --> 00:54:48,409
Short in length,
tall in height canyon

875
00:54:48,619 --> 00:54:50,203
in the State Park.

876
00:54:50,412 --> 00:54:52,872
And I fell in love with
what's easy to fall in love with

877
00:54:53,082 --> 00:54:55,917
you know, beauty, the grandness,
the... the just

878
00:54:56,126 --> 00:55:00,421
total uh, magnificence
of the Rio Grande.

879
00:55:00,631 --> 00:55:02,590
And then the more I explored,
the more I just,

880
00:55:02,800 --> 00:55:05,802
for lack of
better words, was wowed!

881
00:55:06,011 --> 00:55:09,931
[Epic music]

882
00:55:36,041 --> 00:55:37,875
And lately
I've been thinking about how...

883
00:55:39,545 --> 00:55:42,839
I got into this whole
outdoor recreation industry

884
00:55:44,425 --> 00:55:45,967
for a lot of reasons
and one of which...

885
00:55:46,176 --> 00:55:49,470
which... that I've never
really admitted to myself

886
00:55:49,680 --> 00:55:52,724
is I've grown up as
the child of illegal immigrants.

887
00:55:52,933 --> 00:55:56,227
Status is a really big thing

888
00:55:56,437 --> 00:55:58,604
as much... you know, I...
My parents are really proud.

889
00:55:58,814 --> 00:56:01,274
They... they taught me
that you know, you...

890
00:56:01,483 --> 00:56:03,985
you work for
everything you have and you...

891
00:56:04,194 --> 00:56:07,613
you don't ask for things,
you earn things.

892
00:56:08,949 --> 00:56:11,784
But I'd be lying to tell you
that as a child of an...

893
00:56:11,994 --> 00:56:13,369
of illegal immigrants,

894
00:56:14,455 --> 00:56:15,955
status was in...
in the back of my head.

895
00:56:16,165 --> 00:56:17,832
And it... it sounds awful
and I hate to admit it,

896
00:56:18,042 --> 00:56:20,668
but it has been.

897
00:56:20,878 --> 00:56:22,462
Like why couldn't
my parents learn English?

898
00:56:24,673 --> 00:56:29,344
Why couldn't they know
how the school system worked?

899
00:56:30,471 --> 00:56:31,346
I just didn't understand.

900
00:56:31,555 --> 00:56:32,930
I was angry, I was mad.

901
00:56:35,059 --> 00:56:37,894
And the outdoors,
the Rio Grande,

902
00:56:38,103 --> 00:56:41,856
that's somewhere where status
doesn't matter, you know?

903
00:56:42,066 --> 00:56:44,776
It is a true
level playing field.

904
00:56:46,904 --> 00:56:48,029
And I find that...

905
00:56:50,949 --> 00:56:52,700
my connection to the Rio Grande,

906
00:56:52,910 --> 00:56:56,537
my connection to the Big Bend
is really founded on that.

907
00:57:00,959 --> 00:57:03,628
It's such an equalizer.

908
00:57:12,930 --> 00:57:14,764
Alright, so this is
where we have to figure out

909
00:57:14,973 --> 00:57:17,058
where we wanna pull it
to the right

910
00:57:17,267 --> 00:57:19,060
around this penile crap
right here,

911
00:57:19,269 --> 00:57:20,395
which we wanna avoid,

912
00:57:20,604 --> 00:57:21,979
or run the shoot
on the left side

913
00:57:22,189 --> 00:57:23,648
down the actual Madison Falls.

914
00:57:26,652 --> 00:57:28,694
I don't know how the hell...
I mean I'm...

915
00:57:28,904 --> 00:57:31,406
don't know
what I'm doing regardless,
but I don't know how you would

916
00:57:31,615 --> 00:57:34,742
- do this in a canoe.
- [Heather indistinct]

917
00:57:34,952 --> 00:57:38,413
Yeah, like how is it like...
This is only
a Kayak City, right?

918
00:57:38,622 --> 00:57:39,872
[Indistinct]

919
00:57:43,877 --> 00:57:45,628
[Jay] Oh gosh! See, that's...

920
00:57:45,838 --> 00:57:47,588
- [Ben] Oh shit.
- [Heather] Oh shit.

921
00:57:47,798 --> 00:57:48,798
[Jay] Oh.

922
00:57:49,842 --> 00:57:52,093
Oh!

923
00:57:57,015 --> 00:57:59,016
[Filipe] See, that's
what I was worried about. Yeah.

924
00:58:02,146 --> 00:58:04,647
Ben, are you going?
Are you still goin'?

925
00:58:04,857 --> 00:58:05,940
[Ben laughing]

926
00:58:06,150 --> 00:58:07,817
- [Filipe] Yeah!
- [Austin] Yeah!

927
00:58:08,026 --> 00:58:09,193
- [Cheering]
- [Filipe] Yeah.

928
00:58:11,864 --> 00:58:14,574
Spin yourself before
you back yourself in.

929
00:58:14,783 --> 00:58:18,411
- [Filipe] Get it straight on!
Go on! Stay left.
- [Jay] Stay left! Go high!

930
00:58:18,620 --> 00:58:20,621
- [Jay] He's hit it.
- [Filipe] No, he's got it,
he's got it!

931
00:58:20,831 --> 00:58:22,790
- [Filipe] Oh!
- [Jay] Oh shit.

932
00:58:23,000 --> 00:58:23,916
[Jay] He's stuck.

933
00:58:24,918 --> 00:58:26,878
[Filipe] Ben, don't
get caught underneath!

934
00:58:33,051 --> 00:58:39,682
[Grunting]

935
00:58:39,892 --> 00:58:41,017
I can't move it!

936
00:58:42,936 --> 00:58:44,979
[Austin]
Can we get on that corner?
Hang up, hang up, hang up!

937
00:58:45,189 --> 00:58:46,230
Stop, stop.

938
00:58:51,612 --> 00:58:52,653
[Austin] On the count of three.

939
00:58:52,863 --> 00:58:55,740
One, two, three.

940
00:58:55,949 --> 00:58:57,450
[Grunting]

941
00:58:57,659 --> 00:58:58,910
- [Grunts]
- [Austin] Let it go, let it go.

942
00:58:59,119 --> 00:59:01,078
[Jay] Okay, let it go,
let it go, let it go, let it go.

943
00:59:01,288 --> 00:59:02,997
- [Heather] Watch out, watch out.
- [Filipe] Watch out, JK!

944
00:59:03,207 --> 00:59:04,499
[Jay] You want me to get in it?

945
00:59:04,708 --> 00:59:05,750
[Austin] What, oh no, no!

946
00:59:16,094 --> 00:59:17,845
[Heather] Oh man.

947
00:59:18,055 --> 00:59:19,514
[Ben] Well.

948
00:59:19,723 --> 00:59:23,017
[Austin] Oh, no.
It's already taking in water.

949
00:59:23,227 --> 00:59:25,102
[Grunting]

950
00:59:25,312 --> 00:59:27,647
[Austin] Oh, ho, ho, ho.

951
00:59:30,776 --> 00:59:32,777
[Heather]
Come on, Jay, come on, Jay.

952
00:59:32,986 --> 00:59:35,780
[Indistinct yelling]

953
00:59:35,989 --> 00:59:37,031
[Austin yells]

954
00:59:41,620 --> 00:59:43,079
[High pitched tone]

955
00:59:43,288 --> 00:59:44,872
[Heather]
That looked kinda scary.

956
00:59:51,255 --> 00:59:52,630
[Heather] Fell.

957
01:00:12,943 --> 01:00:14,318
[Austin] Two, and three.

958
01:00:16,363 --> 01:00:18,030
[Filipe] There goes the bag.
There goes the bag.

959
01:00:21,368 --> 01:00:23,202
[Ominous music]

960
01:00:34,798 --> 01:00:37,008
[Campfire]

961
01:00:38,385 --> 01:00:41,220
[Jay]
I don't know, I feel... I feel
good. I feel like everybody's

962
01:00:41,430 --> 01:00:42,722
had a little bit
of a wakeup call

963
01:00:42,931 --> 01:00:44,807
and uh,
we should have a good day

964
01:00:45,017 --> 01:00:47,184
today, hopefully stay dry.

965
01:00:47,394 --> 01:00:51,647
[Ben] The weather forecast is
calling for lows in the low 20s

966
01:00:51,857 --> 01:00:54,609
with 20 to 30 mile
per hour north winds

967
01:00:54,818 --> 01:00:56,527
with gusts up to 40.

968
01:00:56,737 --> 01:00:58,237
That is our tailwind.

969
01:00:58,447 --> 01:01:01,741
So, we're getting
to make lemonade

970
01:01:01,950 --> 01:01:04,076
out of these weather lemons.

971
01:01:04,286 --> 01:01:06,537
[Bird chirping]

972
01:01:06,747 --> 01:01:07,747
- [Jay] Good one.
- [Chuckling]

973
01:01:07,956 --> 01:01:10,291
You had time for the...

974
01:01:10,500 --> 01:01:12,668
- for the
thing to make time for.
- [Ben] Yeah, make time for you.

975
01:01:12,878 --> 01:01:14,253
[Jay] Yeah.

976
01:01:14,463 --> 01:01:16,631
[Ben] It's not ideal,
but it's the way that it is.

977
01:01:16,840 --> 01:01:18,716
[Smooth drum brushes]

978
01:01:22,929 --> 01:01:25,556
[Banjo music]

979
01:01:25,766 --> 01:01:27,683
So we've been paddling
for 30-plus miles now

980
01:01:27,893 --> 01:01:30,978
and we're entering
the main body of Lake Amistad.

981
01:01:31,188 --> 01:01:32,813
<i>♪ I've lived</i>
<i>without bread ♪</i>

982
01:01:33,023 --> 01:01:35,608
<i>♪ And I've lived</i>
<i>without water ♪</i>

983
01:01:35,817 --> 01:01:37,693
<i>♪ Stuck outside the middle</i>
<i>Of the desert ♪</i>

984
01:01:37,903 --> 01:01:39,737
<i>♪ Wishin' I was home ♪</i>

985
01:01:39,946 --> 01:01:41,739
<i>♪ Long way</i>
<i>from nowhere ♪</i>

986
01:01:41,948 --> 01:01:43,699
<i>♪ Wishin' I was</i>
<i>somewhere ♪</i>

987
01:01:43,909 --> 01:01:45,743
<i>♪ Sangre de Cristo ♪</i>

988
01:01:45,952 --> 01:01:47,703
<i>♪ To the Devil's</i>
<i>Backbone ♪</i>

989
01:01:47,913 --> 01:01:50,247
[upbeat music]

990
01:01:53,710 --> 01:01:55,336
We're doing just great!

991
01:01:55,545 --> 01:01:57,171
Hey, Heather!

992
01:01:57,381 --> 01:01:58,130
- Only...
- Howdy, Ben.

993
01:01:58,340 --> 01:01:59,840
Only 12 more miles

994
01:02:00,050 --> 01:02:03,177
- directly into the headwind.
- [Heather chuckling]

995
01:02:03,387 --> 01:02:07,014
Twelve more miles to get some
white caps on the lake,

996
01:02:07,224 --> 01:02:09,058
but the sun is out today.

997
01:02:09,267 --> 01:02:11,018
<i>♪ In the back of</i>
<i>a Ranchero ♪</i>

998
01:02:11,228 --> 01:02:13,145
<i>♪ I rode down</i>
<i>to Laredo ♪</i>

999
01:02:13,355 --> 01:02:15,189
<i>♪ Had a good time</i>
<i>at the La Posada ♪</i>

1000
01:02:15,399 --> 01:02:17,274
<i>♪ Yeah, you know</i>
<i>I was left alone ♪</i>

1001
01:02:17,484 --> 01:02:19,735
<i>♪ On a rig out of El Paso ♪</i>

1002
01:02:19,945 --> 01:02:21,946
<i>♪ Rainin' down in Houston ♪</i>

1003
01:02:22,155 --> 01:02:23,823
<i>♪ Told the truck driver</i>
<i>Put the pedal to the metal ♪</i>

1004
01:02:24,032 --> 01:02:25,366
<i>♪ 'Cause Houston</i>
<i>gets me down ♪</i>

1005
01:02:25,575 --> 01:02:27,868
<i>♪ On down to Louisiana ♪</i>

1006
01:02:28,078 --> 01:02:30,204
<i>♪ Whiskey River Landing ♪</i>

1007
01:02:30,414 --> 01:02:32,164
<i>♪ Crawfish pie</i>
<i>And eat jambalaya ♪</i>

1008
01:02:32,374 --> 01:02:34,041
<i>♪ With a big old</i>
<i>coonass smile ♪</i>

1009
01:02:34,251 --> 01:02:35,960
[upbeat music]

1010
01:02:36,169 --> 01:02:41,048
[Cheering]

1011
01:02:45,387 --> 01:02:48,639
[Cheering and laughing]

1012
01:02:48,849 --> 01:02:50,307
[Ben] We are now done
with the Canyon Country

1013
01:02:50,517 --> 01:02:52,143
and Lake Amistad.

1014
01:02:52,352 --> 01:02:55,396
The terrain here flattens out,
there's more people,

1015
01:02:55,605 --> 01:03:00,067
and a border wall
already exists along
most of the towns and cities.

1016
01:03:00,277 --> 01:03:02,361
But the open country
doesn't have a wall yet.

1017
01:03:02,571 --> 01:03:04,905
So we met up
with rancher Steve Lamantia

1018
01:03:05,115 --> 01:03:07,283
to see how it
will affect his operation.

1019
01:03:07,492 --> 01:03:11,203
Water in... in this part
of the country is life.

1020
01:03:11,413 --> 01:03:13,122
So water
is very important to us.

1021
01:03:13,331 --> 01:03:15,416
Without the water,
we... we can't operate.

1022
01:03:15,625 --> 01:03:17,793
My name is Steve Lamantia.

1023
01:03:18,003 --> 01:03:21,255
[Steve] I am in charge
of the ranch operation.

1024
01:03:21,465 --> 01:03:25,301
Basically been on the river
or on the border my whole life.

1025
01:03:25,510 --> 01:03:29,305
But for the longest time
we always considered Mexico

1026
01:03:29,514 --> 01:03:33,434
and the US as one. And no
division uh, because there was

1027
01:03:33,643 --> 01:03:36,854
such a fluid movement
of people back and forth.

1028
01:03:37,063 --> 01:03:40,107
My wife and I...
my children grew up with kids

1029
01:03:40,317 --> 01:03:42,401
from Mexico when going back
and forth to Mexico

1030
01:03:42,611 --> 01:03:44,403
was like
goin' across the street.

1031
01:03:46,072 --> 01:03:48,282
People don't really understand
the border, I think,

1032
01:03:48,492 --> 01:03:50,743
that are... that are... that are
talking about it.

1033
01:03:50,952 --> 01:03:53,537
They don't take the time to
come down here and look at it.

1034
01:03:54,498 --> 01:03:57,208
So did you know that
Border Patrol was down here?

1035
01:03:57,417 --> 01:03:59,168
No, they have...
I give 'em open access.

1036
01:03:59,377 --> 01:04:01,295
They... they...
they built the ramp

1037
01:04:01,505 --> 01:04:03,130
- and part of the deal was...
- Oh.

1038
01:04:03,340 --> 01:04:06,926
Them building the ramp was
they can use it whenever.

1039
01:04:07,135 --> 01:04:10,012
The landowners are in favor
of additional border security.

1040
01:04:11,181 --> 01:04:17,019
A physical wall does not
accomplish border security
in my opinion.

1041
01:04:17,229 --> 01:04:20,314
We don't want
the federal government
taking our land, obviously.

1042
01:04:20,524 --> 01:04:23,859
I think most of the landowners
will fight it tooth and nail

1043
01:04:24,069 --> 01:04:27,112
besides of the fact
that you are taking

1044
01:04:27,322 --> 01:04:31,909
very independently mind...
minded landowners

1045
01:04:32,118 --> 01:04:33,244
and it's a land grab.

1046
01:04:33,453 --> 01:04:34,954
They are taking
their land away from 'em

1047
01:04:35,163 --> 01:04:37,998
and they don't
have the right to say no.

1048
01:04:38,208 --> 01:04:41,168
Uh, and that's gonna leave
a very poor taste in the mouths

1049
01:04:41,378 --> 01:04:42,837
of a lot of people
on this river.

1050
01:04:43,046 --> 01:04:48,968
So basically, from within
about 400 miles upriver

1051
01:04:49,177 --> 01:04:52,179
of the Gulf of Mexico,
the uh... the communities

1052
01:04:52,389 --> 01:04:55,891
on both sides of the border rely
on the Rio Grande river

1053
01:04:56,101 --> 01:05:00,104
for agricultural
and residential use.

1054
01:05:00,313 --> 01:05:01,146
[Steve] No question.

1055
01:05:05,652 --> 01:05:08,279
So you're saying
it may not be a good idea

1056
01:05:08,488 --> 01:05:11,532
to wall ourselves away from the
only good water in the desert?

1057
01:05:11,741 --> 01:05:13,200
That would be
a pretty good assessment.

1058
01:05:13,410 --> 01:05:15,035
- Okay, good.
- [Laughing]

1059
01:05:17,664 --> 01:05:22,543
[Steve]
There is a... a labor pool here
that is not being satisfied

1060
01:05:22,752 --> 01:05:25,045
and can be
satisfied by immigrants

1061
01:05:25,255 --> 01:05:26,881
coming to this country,

1062
01:05:27,090 --> 01:05:31,886
which has happened
for 250 years.

1063
01:05:32,095 --> 01:05:35,055
If that is happening, which
I think is happening right now,

1064
01:05:35,265 --> 01:05:38,017
then I see no reason
why it shouldn't continue

1065
01:05:38,226 --> 01:05:41,228
and I see no reason
why those people need

1066
01:05:41,438 --> 01:05:43,063
to be here under the radar.

1067
01:05:43,273 --> 01:05:45,441
And maybe I'm not smart enough
to understand the problem,

1068
01:05:45,650 --> 01:05:47,359
but if there
is a need for the labor,

1069
01:05:47,569 --> 01:05:49,987
and they come over here
and they are working

1070
01:05:51,031 --> 01:05:54,158
and holding down a job,
then why sh...

1071
01:05:54,367 --> 01:05:55,326
Why don't we want 'em?

1072
01:05:58,705 --> 01:06:02,082
[Victoria] In the 1940s,
as a result of World War II,

1073
01:06:02,292 --> 01:06:05,419
we had a system
called the Bracero Program

1074
01:06:05,629 --> 01:06:09,089
where Mexican farm laborers
were coming over,

1075
01:06:09,299 --> 01:06:11,091
and they were working
in American fields

1076
01:06:11,301 --> 01:06:14,929
while uh, our US men were
abroad fighting in Europe

1077
01:06:15,138 --> 01:06:17,932
and our American women were in...
in factories.

1078
01:06:18,683 --> 01:06:22,853
[Narrator on the TV]
<i>The fact is we still don't have</i>
<i>enough seasonal domestic labor</i>

1079
01:06:23,063 --> 01:06:24,521
<i>willing to do this</i>
<i>kind of work.</i>

1080
01:06:24,731 --> 01:06:29,443
In 1965, the
Bracero Program officially ends.

1081
01:06:29,653 --> 01:06:31,528
But that doesn't mean
that these patterns

1082
01:06:31,738 --> 01:06:33,948
that were established, end.

1083
01:06:34,157 --> 01:06:37,368
So the agricultural interest
kept asking for the labor

1084
01:06:37,577 --> 01:06:39,370
and the labor kept coming.

1085
01:06:41,081 --> 01:06:43,999
This bill
is the most comprehensive reform

1086
01:06:44,209 --> 01:06:46,710
of our
immigration law since 1952.

1087
01:06:51,549 --> 01:06:54,510
Including employer sanctions,
other measures

1088
01:06:54,719 --> 01:06:57,221
to increase enforcement
of the immigration laws

1089
01:06:57,430 --> 01:06:58,472
and legalization.

1090
01:07:03,269 --> 01:07:06,271
What happened was
that the key component

1091
01:07:06,481 --> 01:07:09,149
of employer sanction was
never put into place.

1092
01:07:09,359 --> 01:07:13,153
It was illegal, but everybody
you know, wink, wink, nod, nod,

1093
01:07:13,363 --> 01:07:14,488
this is going on.

1094
01:07:16,116 --> 01:07:18,325
Fast-forward to the early 1990s,

1095
01:07:18,535 --> 01:07:20,327
immigration
becomes a flashpoint.

1096
01:07:20,537 --> 01:07:24,123
There is too much of it and we
must do much more to stop it.

1097
01:07:24,332 --> 01:07:26,250
[Victoria] And at
this point we see what we know

1098
01:07:26,459 --> 01:07:29,253
as the modern-day
border infrastructure,

1099
01:07:32,090 --> 01:07:35,050
not just physically,
but also in terms of personnel.

1100
01:07:36,428 --> 01:07:38,387
As a result
it was harder for immigrants

1101
01:07:38,596 --> 01:07:39,680
to go back and forth.

1102
01:07:40,807 --> 01:07:43,100
And once they were there,
they weren't going to leave,

1103
01:07:43,309 --> 01:07:44,685
because again, every year

1104
01:07:44,894 --> 01:07:46,770
the border got
harder and harder to cross.

1105
01:07:49,482 --> 01:07:51,525
So now, we have
this larger permanent

1106
01:07:51,735 --> 01:07:54,778
undocumented population
in the United States.

1107
01:08:08,168 --> 01:08:11,253
This is the
first wall we've seen since
just outside of El Paso.

1108
01:08:12,839 --> 01:08:15,257
The wall that's right there,

1109
01:08:15,467 --> 01:08:17,968
that was built
under Secure Fence Act

1110
01:08:18,178 --> 01:08:20,137
during the Bush administration,
so it's probably...

1111
01:08:21,264 --> 01:08:23,307
probably 10 years old now.

1112
01:08:23,516 --> 01:08:26,060
And the wall
that they are calling for,

1113
01:08:26,269 --> 01:08:27,728
that President Trump
wants to build

1114
01:08:27,937 --> 01:08:32,232
is gonna be probably
10 feet higher than that.

1115
01:08:32,442 --> 01:08:35,277
Solid concrete, so you wouldn't
be able to look through it.

1116
01:08:35,487 --> 01:08:38,113
And then also it'd have
these massive flood lights

1117
01:08:38,323 --> 01:08:43,118
that look into
the river and along.

1118
01:08:43,328 --> 01:08:45,245
And then they would
clear out all the brush,

1119
01:08:45,455 --> 01:08:47,706
and all the vegetation,
and trees.

1120
01:08:51,127 --> 01:08:52,586
[Filipe] One of the things
that's unfortunate,

1121
01:08:52,796 --> 01:08:55,214
that we've noticed,
this is Mexico on our right,

1122
01:08:55,423 --> 01:08:57,466
this is the US on our left,

1123
01:08:57,675 --> 01:09:00,719
and we have forfeited
all this land

1124
01:09:00,929 --> 01:09:02,596
to become no-man's land,

1125
01:09:02,806 --> 01:09:05,516
which means that
nobody from the US side

1126
01:09:05,725 --> 01:09:08,560
is enjoying this river
right now except for us.

1127
01:09:08,770 --> 01:09:12,189
And all the Mexican side
is fishing, throwing parties,

1128
01:09:12,398 --> 01:09:14,108
you can hear people
playing soccer,

1129
01:09:14,317 --> 01:09:17,111
families are out walking around
enjoying the river,

1130
01:09:17,320 --> 01:09:19,696
and it's obviously
very much a part of life

1131
01:09:19,906 --> 01:09:22,491
in this section
of the Rio Grande.

1132
01:09:22,700 --> 01:09:26,578
And how sad is that?
Nobody from the US side

1133
01:09:26,788 --> 01:09:29,373
can enjoy this beautiful
pristine river right now.

1134
01:09:29,582 --> 01:09:33,544
A wall completely deters
any recreational activity

1135
01:09:33,753 --> 01:09:35,462
from the Rio in this stretch.

1136
01:09:42,428 --> 01:09:43,637
[Filipe]
Get a little bit closer.

1137
01:09:43,847 --> 01:09:45,222
[Austin] Okay.

1138
01:09:48,434 --> 01:09:50,644
[Filipe]
Growing up an illegal immigrant,

1139
01:09:50,854 --> 01:09:52,855
every single day
you live in fear.

1140
01:09:54,274 --> 01:09:57,109
You feel that
your options are limited,

1141
01:09:57,318 --> 01:09:59,444
that there are so many things
stacked against you

1142
01:09:59,654 --> 01:10:01,780
that you can
never outgrow your environment.

1143
01:10:01,990 --> 01:10:05,159
And therefore,
this situation that you're in

1144
01:10:05,368 --> 01:10:06,493
will always remain.

1145
01:10:08,788 --> 01:10:11,582
But because of
our financial status,

1146
01:10:11,791 --> 01:10:13,542
not having a lot of money,

1147
01:10:13,751 --> 01:10:15,335
when my mom would
tell us to go do something,

1148
01:10:15,545 --> 01:10:16,879
it was: "Get the hell outside".

1149
01:10:22,927 --> 01:10:25,262
Doesn't cost anything
to go run around outside,

1150
01:10:25,471 --> 01:10:27,598
to go get lost in the woods,
to climb a tree,

1151
01:10:27,807 --> 01:10:29,266
to go look for animals.

1152
01:10:33,605 --> 01:10:35,314
The natural world saved me.

1153
01:10:39,694 --> 01:10:42,654
So becoming
a wildlife photographer

1154
01:10:42,864 --> 01:10:45,240
and working
<i>with National Geographic</i>

1155
01:10:45,450 --> 01:10:47,284
was my goal in life.

1156
01:10:49,579 --> 01:10:51,830
[Host] So Nat Geo's
Geoff Daniels here.
Nat Geo, come on up.

1157
01:10:52,040 --> 01:10:55,334
- [Crowd cheering]
- To announce
the Wild to Inspire...

1158
01:10:55,543 --> 01:10:58,378
- Wild to Inspire winner.
- There you go, guys,
there you go.

1159
01:10:58,588 --> 01:11:02,841
But the winner
for the 2nd annual
Wild to Inspire competition

1160
01:11:03,051 --> 01:11:06,220
- is Filipe DeAndrade!
- [Cheering]

1161
01:11:06,429 --> 01:11:08,472
[Host] Up! Filipe, come on up.

1162
01:11:08,681 --> 01:11:09,806
[Cheering]

1163
01:11:10,016 --> 01:11:11,808
[Host 2] come up,
Filipe, come on, man.

1164
01:11:12,018 --> 01:11:14,603
[Filipe] Whether it be
through photography, video,

1165
01:11:14,812 --> 01:11:16,480
everything that I do comes back

1166
01:11:16,689 --> 01:11:18,815
to making the world
a better place for animals.

1167
01:11:20,526 --> 01:11:22,694
[Filipe] I have to thank my mom,
because for everything...

1168
01:11:22,904 --> 01:11:25,781
- [Crowd cheering]
- For everything
that we've been through

1169
01:11:25,990 --> 01:11:28,575
as immigrants, abuse,
coming over here,

1170
01:11:28,785 --> 01:11:30,786
struggle, every single thing.

1171
01:11:30,995 --> 01:11:33,789
You fought... - you fought
for what you loved.

1172
01:11:33,998 --> 01:11:35,707
[Crowd cheering]

1173
01:11:40,380 --> 01:11:42,839
[Filipe] I'm so grateful
that she brought us here,

1174
01:11:44,801 --> 01:11:46,176
and that I get to
travel the world

1175
01:11:46,386 --> 01:11:47,886
and talk about what I love.

1176
01:11:49,681 --> 01:11:52,349
My mom is by far and large
my greatest...

1177
01:11:55,520 --> 01:11:58,021
my greatest example in life.

1178
01:11:59,607 --> 01:12:01,525
[Filipe]
When she became a citizen,

1179
01:12:01,734 --> 01:12:03,360
I asked her:
"What do you wanna do?"

1180
01:12:03,569 --> 01:12:05,779
And she said:
"I wanna be a nurse at the VA.

1181
01:12:05,989 --> 01:12:10,909
I wanna take care of veterans
who took care of us,

1182
01:12:11,119 --> 01:12:15,330
and that is my contribution
to the country that
I am now a citizen in."

1183
01:12:15,540 --> 01:12:17,624
And that makes me so damn proud.

1184
01:12:34,976 --> 01:12:36,435
- [Austin] There it is.
- [Jay] Wow!

1185
01:12:45,028 --> 01:12:46,069
Wow!

1186
01:12:47,905 --> 01:12:49,573
There are so many.

1187
01:12:51,909 --> 01:12:53,368
- What's up, Stevie?
- How are you?

1188
01:12:53,578 --> 01:12:54,995
[Austin] Good, man!

1189
01:12:55,204 --> 01:12:56,455
- [Ben] Nice to meet you.
- Stevie Sauer.

1190
01:12:56,664 --> 01:12:57,914
Yeah, Ben Masters.

1191
01:13:00,626 --> 01:13:03,462
We hadn't like gotten to talk
to anybody on the camera.

1192
01:13:03,671 --> 01:13:05,339
- [Stevie] Alright.
- Alright, can you do that?

1193
01:13:05,548 --> 01:13:07,466
So the only reason
I can do that is 'cause I'm...

1194
01:13:07,675 --> 01:13:10,594
Uh, I told you uh,
I'm with the Union

1195
01:13:10,803 --> 01:13:14,014
of Del Rio Sector.
So on behalf of the Union,
I'm talkin' to you.

1196
01:13:14,223 --> 01:13:16,391
[Stevie]
I've been in Border Patrol
for nine and a half years.

1197
01:13:17,143 --> 01:13:20,687
I am a Executive Vice President
for Del Rio Sector Union.

1198
01:13:21,689 --> 01:13:23,940
If we put a wall up
from sea to shining sea,

1199
01:13:24,150 --> 01:13:25,692
people are still gonna cross it.

1200
01:13:25,902 --> 01:13:27,027
I've been detailed to Nogales,

1201
01:13:27,236 --> 01:13:29,696
and there's a wall
through downtown Nogales,

1202
01:13:29,906 --> 01:13:32,741
and people cross it,
go over it, go through it.

1203
01:13:32,950 --> 01:13:35,577
There's more damage that's done
to a wall you know,

1204
01:13:35,787 --> 01:13:37,871
with just the will power. People
just trying to get across.

1205
01:13:38,081 --> 01:13:42,292
Do you think it's something
that if it doesn't happen

1206
01:13:42,502 --> 01:13:45,629
in the next three years,
will continue

1207
01:13:45,838 --> 01:13:48,715
to be raised
as a potential solution?

1208
01:13:48,925 --> 01:13:51,009
The wall's always gonna be
a topic of discussion.

1209
01:13:51,219 --> 01:13:52,803
[Stevie] I think
it's always gonna be continued

1210
01:13:53,012 --> 01:13:55,806
to be raised as
a deterrent of guys crossing.

1211
01:13:56,015 --> 01:13:59,476
They're not a solution
to the immigration problems,

1212
01:14:00,436 --> 01:14:02,854
because there is... there is more
than just a wall to fix it.

1213
01:14:03,064 --> 01:14:05,565
If... if you've got ants
coming inside your house,

1214
01:14:05,775 --> 01:14:06,733
we've already got walls,
you know.

1215
01:14:06,943 --> 01:14:08,402
They're finding a way to get in.

1216
01:14:08,611 --> 01:14:10,362
So we've gotta...
we've gotta find out

1217
01:14:10,571 --> 01:14:11,947
the solution and what that is.

1218
01:14:12,156 --> 01:14:13,865
Do you fix it with technology?
Do you fix it with more...

1219
01:14:14,075 --> 01:14:14,825
more boots on the ground?

1220
01:14:15,034 --> 01:14:16,368
Do you...

1221
01:14:16,577 --> 01:14:18,036
In your opinion
w... what... what's...

1222
01:14:18,246 --> 01:14:20,831
what's the solution with...
with response time?

1223
01:14:21,040 --> 01:14:22,749
Uh, you can have
all the technology you need,

1224
01:14:22,959 --> 01:14:25,794
but if you don't have anybody
to put handcuffs on anybody

1225
01:14:26,003 --> 01:14:27,754
or to question them as
far as the alien, there isn't...

1226
01:14:29,215 --> 01:14:31,758
The technology is great,
because we detected 'em,

1227
01:14:31,968 --> 01:14:34,428
but we didn't have
anybody to arrest 'em.

1228
01:14:34,637 --> 01:14:38,598
Have you noticed a drop-off
or an increase in people

1229
01:14:38,808 --> 01:14:40,016
coming over to the US?

1230
01:14:40,226 --> 01:14:42,936
The numbers are down,
have decreased. Yeah.

1231
01:14:43,146 --> 01:14:44,396
[Filipe]
Significantly or you know like...

1232
01:14:44,605 --> 01:14:45,689
- Significantly.
- Really?

1233
01:15:33,821 --> 01:15:35,405
Just had a little spin out.

1234
01:15:35,615 --> 01:15:36,239
They're showin' off there.

1235
01:15:37,241 --> 01:15:38,116
[Crew member] They definitely...

1236
01:15:39,660 --> 01:15:41,453
made themselves known.

1237
01:15:41,662 --> 01:15:44,998
Absolutely, you can hear
them from a mile away.

1238
01:15:45,208 --> 01:15:47,834
- [Cheering]
- [Speaking in Spanish]

1239
01:15:48,044 --> 01:15:49,503
- [Cheering]
- [Austin] Oh my gosh,

1240
01:15:49,712 --> 01:15:50,921
is that a catfish?

1241
01:15:51,130 --> 01:15:52,172
That's probably like a 40...

1242
01:15:52,381 --> 01:15:54,174
oh my gosh, both of those!

1243
01:15:55,259 --> 01:15:56,885
Hello! How much
do they weigh?

1244
01:15:57,929 --> 01:15:59,095
Eight each!

1245
01:16:00,890 --> 01:16:02,390
Wow! The big one!

1246
01:16:02,600 --> 01:16:03,683
How long have
you been here?

1247
01:16:04,936 --> 01:16:06,061
Just a day!

1248
01:16:06,270 --> 01:16:07,687
Just a day fishing
for those?

1249
01:16:09,023 --> 01:16:12,400
We are bad fishermen.

1250
01:16:13,611 --> 01:16:14,819
[Laughing]

1251
01:16:16,155 --> 01:16:17,113
[Ben] Wow!

1252
01:16:17,323 --> 01:16:18,698
[Mexican music playing]

1253
01:16:19,075 --> 01:16:20,700
This is our work.

1254
01:16:21,786 --> 01:16:24,204
We bring them to
the Piedras Negras
fish markets.

1255
01:16:24,997 --> 01:16:27,207
Do you want to eat...

1256
01:16:27,416 --> 01:16:29,125
"fish of the cat"?

1257
01:16:29,794 --> 01:16:30,961
[Speaking Spanish]

1258
01:16:31,170 --> 01:16:32,212
[Ben] Is that catfish?

1259
01:16:32,421 --> 01:16:33,296
It's about right.

1260
01:16:33,714 --> 01:16:37,717
Is it a kind that you
only have here?

1261
01:16:38,511 --> 01:16:40,845
The whole river.

1262
01:16:41,055 --> 01:16:42,973
But we don't go
fishing over there.

1263
01:16:43,933 --> 01:16:48,228
If they see us over there
they'll take us because they
think we're wetbacks.

1264
01:16:48,437 --> 01:16:52,941
And you as Mexicans,
what do you and your
friends think of the wall?

1265
01:16:54,068 --> 01:16:55,944
They'll just fly over
it like Superman.

1266
01:16:59,365 --> 01:17:00,907
And have you seen
a lot of people
crossing here?

1267
01:17:01,117 --> 01:17:02,701
Yes, tons.

1268
01:17:02,910 --> 01:17:04,160
With drugs.

1269
01:17:06,664 --> 01:17:09,124
But the demand
for drugs is over
there in the US, eh?

1270
01:17:10,001 --> 01:17:11,167
They're not going to stop.

1271
01:17:12,545 --> 01:17:15,380
Be very careful when
you get down near Guerrero.

1272
01:17:15,590 --> 01:17:16,590
Yeah, they were telling us that.

1273
01:17:16,799 --> 01:17:18,258
How is it around here? Calm?

1274
01:17:18,467 --> 01:17:21,094
It's calm here -
but the Zeta's (cartel)
Are down there.

1275
01:17:21,304 --> 01:17:22,804
Are they well armed?

1276
01:17:23,014 --> 01:17:23,888
Yes.

1277
01:17:27,643 --> 01:17:30,020
<i>The narcotraficantes</i>
<i>in Northern Mexico</i>

1278
01:17:30,229 --> 01:17:33,773
are making roughly... and this is
a conservative number,

1279
01:17:33,983 --> 01:17:38,069
$50 billion.
That's almost the equivalent

1280
01:17:38,279 --> 01:17:41,865
of the entire budget
for the Intelligence Community

1281
01:17:42,074 --> 01:17:43,074
of the United States of America.

1282
01:17:45,828 --> 01:17:50,081
[Will] To make $50 billion,
you're not bringing it in

1283
01:17:50,291 --> 01:17:51,875
you know, in a backpack alone.

1284
01:17:52,084 --> 01:17:54,961
You're bringing it in
in significant weights

1285
01:17:55,171 --> 01:17:57,881
and that's happening through um,
our ports of entry.

1286
01:18:00,801 --> 01:18:03,970
[Beto]
All of this is connected,
all of this is correlated.

1287
01:18:04,180 --> 01:18:06,806
If... if you look at the billions
of dollars that we spend

1288
01:18:07,016 --> 01:18:10,060
on consuming illegal drugs
in this country,

1289
01:18:11,020 --> 01:18:14,648
we can see the connection
between our use of illegal drugs

1290
01:18:14,857 --> 01:18:18,234
uh, the c...
the cartels' bottom line,

1291
01:18:18,444 --> 01:18:20,654
the resources
that they can bring to bear

1292
01:18:20,863 --> 01:18:23,573
on hollowing out
the civil institutions,

1293
01:18:23,783 --> 01:18:26,660
whether that's the courts,
whether that's the... the press,

1294
01:18:26,869 --> 01:18:28,870
whether that's the...
the police force,

1295
01:18:29,080 --> 01:18:31,164
whether that's their...
their politics.

1296
01:18:32,124 --> 01:18:34,334
Destabilizing that country
to such a degree

1297
01:18:34,543 --> 01:18:36,920
that it's hard
to argue with somebody

1298
01:18:37,129 --> 01:18:39,339
who would seek to leave it
to find a better life

1299
01:18:39,548 --> 01:18:42,717
somewhere else,
ironically here in America,

1300
01:18:42,927 --> 01:18:45,345
the country that is
in part producing um,

1301
01:18:45,554 --> 01:18:47,806
some of the problems with
the consumption of those drugs,

1302
01:18:48,015 --> 01:18:50,725
the flow of cash
and arms back into Mexico.

1303
01:18:59,902 --> 01:19:04,322
So against everybody's advice,
we are paddling into the night,

1304
01:19:06,909 --> 01:19:08,660
which I'm
not too comfortable about

1305
01:19:08,869 --> 01:19:14,666
just because this is a fairly
high drug traffic corridor

1306
01:19:14,875 --> 01:19:16,126
of US-Mexico border.

1307
01:19:18,337 --> 01:19:21,881
But we're trying
to get to a location

1308
01:19:22,091 --> 01:19:23,800
where we
have permission to stay at

1309
01:19:25,010 --> 01:19:26,219
and uh...

1310
01:19:28,848 --> 01:19:30,432
I don't know
where everybody else is.

1311
01:19:36,772 --> 01:19:38,022
Like I don't know if they...

1312
01:19:38,232 --> 01:19:40,900
I don't know
if they took a different

1313
01:19:41,110 --> 01:19:43,361
channel of the river,

1314
01:19:43,571 --> 01:19:45,071
if they're in front of me

1315
01:19:46,198 --> 01:19:47,490
or if they're behind me.

1316
01:19:48,492 --> 01:19:50,160
It's kind of a bad time to...

1317
01:19:50,369 --> 01:19:51,161
[sniffles]

1318
01:19:51,370 --> 01:19:52,746
...get separated.

1319
01:20:09,138 --> 01:20:13,725
- Hey, Heather.
- [Austin] So, that's, that's,
<i>so the reason why we called you</i>

1320
01:20:13,934 --> 01:20:16,186
<i>there are some concerns</i>
<i>about this. One, it's dark,</i>

1321
01:20:16,395 --> 01:20:18,021
<i>do we still cross</i>
<i>at the crossing?</i>

1322
01:20:21,233 --> 01:20:22,901
[Heather] I think there's
people over on that bank.

1323
01:20:24,153 --> 01:20:25,987
[Austin]
It looked like they were
carrying bags and stuff.

1324
01:20:26,197 --> 01:20:27,739
[Filipe] Yeah, when we...
when we looked down,

1325
01:20:27,948 --> 01:20:30,241
we saw...
we saw groups of people.

1326
01:20:30,451 --> 01:20:32,118
- [Heather] They were even boats.
- [Filipe] 'Cause we thought
it was...

1327
01:20:32,328 --> 01:20:34,120
[Austin] You thought it was
Ben. I was about to yell out

1328
01:20:34,330 --> 01:20:36,414
and Jay said: "Hold on, don't
say anything." And he was right.

1329
01:20:36,624 --> 01:20:39,751
It was people
over there, definitely not Ben.

1330
01:20:39,960 --> 01:20:44,923
Um, but they were definitely
throwing bags of stuff back.

1331
01:20:45,132 --> 01:20:49,886
Border Patrol and everybody
that lives on the river said:
"Don't do the river at night

1332
01:20:50,095 --> 01:20:51,262
uh, because
that's when most people

1333
01:20:51,472 --> 01:20:53,181
- are gonna be crossing."
- Like I think

1334
01:20:53,390 --> 01:20:55,266
makin' ourselves
known being here

1335
01:20:55,476 --> 01:20:56,726
- is probably a good thing.
- [Heather] Yeah.

1336
01:20:56,936 --> 01:20:57,811
I don't think approaching 'em

1337
01:20:58,020 --> 01:20:59,145
is a great idea either.

1338
01:20:59,355 --> 01:21:00,146
But uh, you don't wanna

1339
01:21:00,356 --> 01:21:01,439
like sneak up on them

1340
01:21:01,649 --> 01:21:03,149
- by any means.
- [Heather] I know.

1341
01:21:03,359 --> 01:21:05,026
That's when you
run into a bad situation.

1342
01:21:05,236 --> 01:21:07,821
Either drug smugglers
or people trying to cross,

1343
01:21:08,030 --> 01:21:08,905
either way you don't wanna...

1344
01:21:10,950 --> 01:21:13,493
be in the middle of that
and that's exactly
where we're at right now.

1345
01:21:15,162 --> 01:21:18,289
So you guys are
definitely ahead of us.

1346
01:21:18,499 --> 01:21:20,291
- [Filipe] Okay.
<i>- Uh, and...</i>

1347
01:21:21,544 --> 01:21:25,213
I'm uh... we're gonna
start going forward towards you

1348
01:21:25,422 --> 01:21:26,798
with our lights on.

1349
01:21:27,007 --> 01:21:28,174
[Filipe]
<i>Alright, we're gonna stay put</i>

1350
01:21:28,384 --> 01:21:30,343
<i>and then</i>
<i>we'll decide as a group.</i>

1351
01:21:30,553 --> 01:21:32,387
<i>We'll have</i>
<i>our lights on here as well.</i>

1352
01:21:32,596 --> 01:21:34,347
<i>Uh, you just be careful.</i>

1353
01:21:34,557 --> 01:21:35,932
So there is their lights.

1354
01:21:36,141 --> 01:21:37,392
At least I hope
it's their lights.

1355
01:21:38,519 --> 01:21:39,978
Looks good.

1356
01:21:42,106 --> 01:21:43,231
[Sighs]

1357
01:21:45,651 --> 01:21:48,236
- So we should get out of here.
- [Jay] Yeah, we should.

1358
01:21:48,445 --> 01:21:50,238
- Like as soon as possible.
- [Heather] Yeah.

1359
01:21:50,447 --> 01:21:51,531
And then
getting down and camping

1360
01:21:51,740 --> 01:21:53,533
as soon as we see a camp spot.

1361
01:21:53,742 --> 01:21:56,870
Okay. Do you...
We were just discussing briefly

1362
01:21:57,079 --> 01:22:00,540
like should we like
tell Stevie or Border Patrol

1363
01:22:00,749 --> 01:22:02,876
or just... just go?

1364
01:22:03,085 --> 01:22:05,086
Yeah, we should call Stevie
and let him know.

1365
01:22:05,296 --> 01:22:07,130
- Okay, yeah.
- Like if something
happens to us then...

1366
01:22:07,339 --> 01:22:08,548
Yeah, yeah. No, I...

1367
01:22:08,757 --> 01:22:10,216
[Ben] Like...

1368
01:22:10,426 --> 01:22:11,384
Deal.

1369
01:22:12,970 --> 01:22:15,179
You got the number?
You want this?

1370
01:22:15,389 --> 01:22:17,473
- Here.
- It's like we stopped.

1371
01:22:17,683 --> 01:22:20,226
If we went
around this right here,
we would have seen people.

1372
01:22:20,436 --> 01:22:22,395
I don't like this at all.
And they were right there?

1373
01:22:22,605 --> 01:22:24,522
- Yeah, they were right there.
- And you all
just stopped right here?

1374
01:22:24,732 --> 01:22:26,983
- [Heather] No, I mean...
- Let's get the fuck
out of here, man.

1375
01:22:27,192 --> 01:22:28,276
Didn't know
if you guys were behind us.

1376
01:22:33,657 --> 01:22:36,075
- [Austin] This... this is a...
- [Heather] Alright.

1377
01:22:36,285 --> 01:22:37,368
- [Heather] Good timing.
- [Austin] Yeah.

1378
01:22:41,248 --> 01:22:45,168
I have to admit I jumped
to immediate bad conclusion.

1379
01:22:45,377 --> 01:22:47,587
You guys said:
"Backpacks and people crossing",

1380
01:22:47,796 --> 01:22:51,382
the first thing that came
to my head was running drugs,

1381
01:22:51,592 --> 01:22:53,676
like the very first thing
that popped into my head.

1382
01:22:55,054 --> 01:22:56,930
[Austin] And they...
they might have been, but, uh...

1383
01:22:57,139 --> 01:22:58,097
[Ben] Yeah.

1384
01:22:58,307 --> 01:22:59,223
But we don't know that.

1385
01:23:00,351 --> 01:23:02,018
[Ben] Well,
it's such a conundrum, because

1386
01:23:03,312 --> 01:23:06,356
like the people
that are crossing, you know,

1387
01:23:08,150 --> 01:23:11,569
under different circumstances
that could have been you.

1388
01:23:11,779 --> 01:23:13,196
Or you.

1389
01:23:15,532 --> 01:23:18,117
Yeah. And that is
the predicament.
Like I was sitting there

1390
01:23:18,327 --> 01:23:21,913
and I was like if those
are families or people

1391
01:23:22,122 --> 01:23:24,457
who are trying to make
a better life for themselves,
I don't wanna call.

1392
01:23:24,667 --> 01:23:26,960
But if those are drug smugglers,
I do wanna call.

1393
01:23:31,090 --> 01:23:32,465
[Austin] I talked
to my parents about it

1394
01:23:33,592 --> 01:23:35,051
and told them
I came upon some people,

1395
01:23:35,260 --> 01:23:36,636
and well, they asked me
you know: "what...

1396
01:23:36,845 --> 01:23:38,429
What were they wearing,
what were they doing,

1397
01:23:38,639 --> 01:23:40,139
this or that" and...

1398
01:23:40,349 --> 01:23:42,392
And I kinda described
the situation and they...

1399
01:23:42,601 --> 01:23:44,310
And they asked us what we did,
and I was like:

1400
01:23:44,520 --> 01:23:46,062
"Well, we...
we called Border Patrol."

1401
01:23:47,022 --> 01:23:52,360
And they...
they understood, they got it,

1402
01:23:53,612 --> 01:23:56,072
and they said, :
"Oh man, poor people."

1403
01:23:56,281 --> 01:23:57,490
Um.

1404
01:24:03,455 --> 01:24:06,249
They said that was them
30 years ago.

1405
01:24:07,418 --> 01:24:09,544
[Gentle music]

1406
01:24:19,430 --> 01:24:22,140
[Austin]
In Guatemala, they... they were
making three bucks a day.

1407
01:24:22,349 --> 01:24:23,474
They were living
in a little room,

1408
01:24:23,684 --> 01:24:26,477
them and my older brother,
my dad, he had

1409
01:24:26,687 --> 01:24:33,276
family members and friends
who had either been, you know,
harassed, mugged or killed.

1410
01:24:36,488 --> 01:24:37,530
I mean it was genocide.

1411
01:24:41,285 --> 01:24:45,955
My mom, she was very willing
to do whatever she had to do

1412
01:24:46,165 --> 01:24:47,123
to get over here.

1413
01:24:48,333 --> 01:24:50,376
She tried to come over
a couple of times.

1414
01:24:53,213 --> 01:24:54,797
Someone had snitched on her.

1415
01:24:56,508 --> 01:25:00,553
Mom and my older brother
were locked up in Mexico

1416
01:25:00,763 --> 01:25:03,389
when they got caught
by immigration there in Mexico.

1417
01:25:06,518 --> 01:25:10,396
Mom would ask to work
in jail so she...

1418
01:25:10,606 --> 01:25:12,982
So she could get money
and food to feed my brother

1419
01:25:13,192 --> 01:25:14,067
while they're in jail.

1420
01:25:17,196 --> 01:25:20,156
I don't wanna discredit the...
the crossing of the river,
it is significant.

1421
01:25:20,866 --> 01:25:25,703
But my parents had...
My, my family felt
that fear the entire time.

1422
01:25:25,913 --> 01:25:27,413
And it was...
and they still thought they...

1423
01:25:27,623 --> 01:25:29,415
that fear years after crossing.

1424
01:25:29,625 --> 01:25:31,793
[Gentle music]

1425
01:25:41,762 --> 01:25:45,348
[Austin] When I was first born,
it was probably uh, 15 of us

1426
01:25:45,557 --> 01:25:46,766
in one house.

1427
01:25:46,975 --> 01:25:47,850
It was tough.

1428
01:25:50,229 --> 01:25:52,522
My parents, they heard
this radio announcement

1429
01:25:52,731 --> 01:25:56,526
about, um people helping
illegal immigrants

1430
01:25:56,735 --> 01:25:57,693
get their residency,

1431
01:25:57,903 --> 01:25:59,695
but they
have to report themselves

1432
01:25:59,905 --> 01:26:02,240
and state
that they're there illegally.

1433
01:26:08,789 --> 01:26:11,457
My mom,
she began crying immediately

1434
01:26:11,667 --> 01:26:14,293
and they're like: "We're...
we need to deport you now."

1435
01:26:35,899 --> 01:26:38,651
In my parents' eyes,

1436
01:26:38,861 --> 01:26:40,278
the American dream were

1437
01:26:40,487 --> 01:26:41,779
to send three kids to college

1438
01:26:43,782 --> 01:26:47,577
and have enough to make a living
and... and be satisfied,

1439
01:26:49,288 --> 01:26:50,746
and they've exceeded that.

1440
01:26:54,918 --> 01:26:57,545
I am no longer embarrassed
of who I am, where I come from.

1441
01:26:59,298 --> 01:27:01,132
I'm very proud of my parents.

1442
01:27:01,341 --> 01:27:02,216
Very proud.

1443
01:27:03,760 --> 01:27:06,846
And hopefully uh, one day
I can pay 'em back.

1444
01:27:19,651 --> 01:27:21,110
[Ben] Today is a big day.

1445
01:27:21,320 --> 01:27:25,114
We are switching
from canoes to bicycles,

1446
01:27:25,324 --> 01:27:28,576
because we're now in an area
where there is a wall,

1447
01:27:28,785 --> 01:27:31,621
but the wall is so far away
from the river

1448
01:27:31,830 --> 01:27:34,540
that you can't even see it
from the river in some spots.

1449
01:27:34,750 --> 01:27:35,875
[Filipe] Let's ride.

1450
01:27:36,084 --> 01:27:37,293
- [Cheering]
- [Heather] Let's ride.

1451
01:27:39,504 --> 01:27:44,425
[Austin] Ben Masters is
a determined, dedicated,

1452
01:27:45,636 --> 01:27:47,845
uncoordinated son of a gun.

1453
01:27:48,055 --> 01:27:50,848
He is so great
for so many reasons,

1454
01:27:51,058 --> 01:27:52,516
but coordination
is not one of them.

1455
01:27:53,810 --> 01:27:55,561
And to see him on the bicycle,

1456
01:27:55,771 --> 01:27:57,772
after paddling
and being on a horseback,

1457
01:27:57,981 --> 01:28:02,360
is uh, one of my
greatest joys in life now.

1458
01:28:02,569 --> 01:28:04,403
He is...

1459
01:28:04,613 --> 01:28:06,614
so bad on a bicycle.

1460
01:28:07,574 --> 01:28:08,866
But dang it, he's doin' it.

1461
01:28:11,662 --> 01:28:14,914
[Ben]
The Lower Rio Grande Valley
has the most illegal crossings

1462
01:28:15,123 --> 01:28:17,583
and drug traffic
along the US-Mexico border.

1463
01:28:17,793 --> 01:28:21,254
<i>♪ Running astray ♪</i>

1464
01:28:21,463 --> 01:28:23,547
[Ben] It already has
some existing border wall

1465
01:28:23,757 --> 01:28:26,300
and is priority
for future wall construction.

1466
01:28:26,510 --> 01:28:28,386
<i>♪ I dream of you ♪</i>

1467
01:28:28,595 --> 01:28:30,805
[Ben] The Rio Grande here
twists and turns,

1468
01:28:31,014 --> 01:28:33,891
but the border wall
will be built on straight lines,

1469
01:28:34,101 --> 01:28:36,435
on levees and irrigation canals,

1470
01:28:36,645 --> 01:28:38,312
sometimes miles from the border.

1471
01:28:39,773 --> 01:28:42,233
Effectively stranding
American land

1472
01:28:42,442 --> 01:28:43,901
between the river and the wall.

1473
01:28:45,696 --> 01:28:48,823
- Are you all doing dry land
or uh, irrigation?
- All irrigated.

1474
01:28:49,032 --> 01:28:52,910
All... all irrigated,
all the water coming out
of the Rio Grande River.

1475
01:28:53,120 --> 01:28:56,664
Our river pumps are on the banks
of the Rio Grande river.

1476
01:28:56,873 --> 01:28:59,333
We will have to go
through the wall,

1477
01:28:59,543 --> 01:29:00,835
to get to our pumps,

1478
01:29:01,044 --> 01:29:04,463
which is the lifeblood
of the irrigated farms.

1479
01:29:04,673 --> 01:29:08,759
The concern is we're giving up
a tremendous amount of... of

1480
01:29:09,720 --> 01:29:12,680
an area that...
that is some of the most

1481
01:29:12,889 --> 01:29:15,308
productive farmland
in the world.

1482
01:29:15,517 --> 01:29:17,810
Uh, alluvial soils
from the Rio Grande river

1483
01:29:18,020 --> 01:29:20,980
with a 365-day growing period.

1484
01:29:21,189 --> 01:29:24,775
So, there's
a lot of impact south

1485
01:29:24,985 --> 01:29:27,320
of where they're going
to place the wall.

1486
01:29:27,529 --> 01:29:33,492
Where is the border?
Is the border on the river,
or is the border at the wall?

1487
01:29:34,619 --> 01:29:37,038
Because there's three quarters
of a mile difference.

1488
01:29:38,999 --> 01:29:42,251
I don't want it to be just
a one-time photo op,

1489
01:29:42,461 --> 01:29:45,504
and then my uh, kids,
and grandkids,

1490
01:29:45,714 --> 01:29:47,715
and future generations
have to live

1491
01:29:47,924 --> 01:29:50,259
with their farm
being cut in half.

1492
01:29:50,469 --> 01:29:53,679
Once the wall goes up,
that's it.

1493
01:29:53,889 --> 01:29:56,557
You can't redo it,
you can't undo it.

1494
01:29:56,767 --> 01:29:59,727
And I think it's easy
for people in Washington DC

1495
01:29:59,936 --> 01:30:03,689
to make decisions
without having some input

1496
01:30:03,899 --> 01:30:05,941
from the people
who actually live here.

1497
01:30:06,151 --> 01:30:07,860
There's just something

1498
01:30:08,070 --> 01:30:09,695
kind of
un-American about it to me,

1499
01:30:09,905 --> 01:30:12,114
and it's all part
of the United States.

1500
01:30:14,493 --> 01:30:16,494
When they talk
about Homeland Security,

1501
01:30:16,703 --> 01:30:17,870
we're part of the Homeland.

1502
01:30:19,039 --> 01:30:23,292
The wall will be
on this side of the river road...

1503
01:30:23,502 --> 01:30:25,044
of the levee road.

1504
01:30:25,253 --> 01:30:27,546
Uh, and will be a vertical wall

1505
01:30:27,756 --> 01:30:32,426
where they will peel off
this side of the... of the levee

1506
01:30:32,636 --> 01:30:35,554
and build
a vertical concrete wall.

1507
01:30:35,764 --> 01:30:37,890
For us, it's 350 acres,

1508
01:30:38,100 --> 01:30:42,728
for Steve's family,
it's 500 acres,

1509
01:30:42,938 --> 01:30:45,481
for Santana, it's 2,000 acres.

1510
01:30:45,690 --> 01:30:48,067
So just within the stretch
of a couple of miles,

1511
01:30:48,276 --> 01:30:51,570
you've got almost
3,000 acres of land

1512
01:30:51,780 --> 01:30:54,073
that is going to
be ceded to Mexico

1513
01:30:54,282 --> 01:30:57,785
um, because it's gonna be
south of the wall.

1514
01:30:57,994 --> 01:31:00,704
We're not gonna control the area
south of the wall anymore.

1515
01:31:00,914 --> 01:31:03,666
[Dramatic music]

1516
01:31:30,819 --> 01:31:32,611
[Birds chirping]

1517
01:31:36,867 --> 01:31:39,493
[Heather]
It's kind of crazy down here,

1518
01:31:39,703 --> 01:31:44,081
getting estimates
of the number of individuals,

1519
01:31:45,250 --> 01:31:48,627
'cause you have
these huge flocks flying over

1520
01:31:48,837 --> 01:31:51,964
and swarms of swallows.

1521
01:31:53,175 --> 01:31:57,761
Trying to estimate how many
individuals you're seeing

1522
01:32:01,933 --> 01:32:06,687
In my bird surveys
along the entire Rio Grande,

1523
01:32:08,106 --> 01:32:11,901
I detected over 150 species.

1524
01:32:13,778 --> 01:32:16,071
There's such a huge diversity.

1525
01:32:19,659 --> 01:32:21,994
The bird community
in the Rio Grande Valley

1526
01:32:22,204 --> 01:32:23,746
is like completely different.

1527
01:32:25,165 --> 01:32:26,790
Many of these are species

1528
01:32:27,000 --> 01:32:30,002
that you wouldn't see
anywhere else in the US.

1529
01:32:32,672 --> 01:32:35,174
It's the biggest
birding destination

1530
01:32:35,383 --> 01:32:36,258
in the country.

1531
01:32:38,136 --> 01:32:39,887
If you just woke up here,

1532
01:32:41,181 --> 01:32:42,598
just listen to it,

1533
01:32:43,600 --> 01:32:46,519
you would think
you're in the tropics.

1534
01:32:46,728 --> 01:32:48,896
That's a golden-fronted calling.

1535
01:32:51,983 --> 01:32:53,817
The Rio Grande Valley is

1536
01:32:54,027 --> 01:32:56,987
one of the most
critical habitats

1537
01:32:57,197 --> 01:33:01,617
for birds, butterflies,
and bats in North America.

1538
01:33:03,119 --> 01:33:07,581
This subtropical habitat
that is really nowhere else

1539
01:33:07,791 --> 01:33:09,250
in the United States.

1540
01:33:12,837 --> 01:33:16,924
The Rio Grande Valley is
along different migratory routes

1541
01:33:17,133 --> 01:33:19,677
for birds, butterflies and bats.

1542
01:33:21,054 --> 01:33:23,722
There's this huge collaboration

1543
01:33:23,932 --> 01:33:27,059
between public
and private organizations,

1544
01:33:27,269 --> 01:33:32,022
and they've linked
this string of pearls,

1545
01:33:32,232 --> 01:33:35,901
this native habitat
along the Rio Grande

1546
01:33:36,111 --> 01:33:39,863
to preserve this area
for native species.

1547
01:33:43,368 --> 01:33:47,496
The border wall
would be built along the levee

1548
01:33:47,706 --> 01:33:49,623
with an enforcement zone.

1549
01:33:51,376 --> 01:33:55,004
In this region,
where there's only 5%

1550
01:33:55,213 --> 01:33:57,965
of remaining native habitat,

1551
01:33:58,174 --> 01:34:01,635
this enforcement zone
would be bulldozing

1552
01:34:01,845 --> 01:34:05,306
a... a sizable portion
of what's left.

1553
01:34:07,017 --> 01:34:09,768
In a flood situation

1554
01:34:09,978 --> 01:34:13,188
terrestrial animals could
get caught up in floodwaters.

1555
01:34:14,399 --> 01:34:18,527
Having the border wall,
species like the Texas tortoise

1556
01:34:18,737 --> 01:34:22,531
and ocelots could die
in these rising flood waters,

1557
01:34:22,741 --> 01:34:25,367
because there wouldn't be
any way for them to escape.

1558
01:34:29,831 --> 01:34:32,124
This could become a death trap.

1559
01:34:34,336 --> 01:34:36,754
It occurred to me
along the journey

1560
01:34:36,963 --> 01:34:40,090
that in...
in some of these areas,

1561
01:34:40,300 --> 01:34:43,927
there may have never been
a formal bird survey

1562
01:34:44,137 --> 01:34:48,974
and there may
never be another one done

1563
01:34:49,184 --> 01:34:51,810
before it's changed forever.

1564
01:34:53,438 --> 01:34:59,860
I felt honored and...
to see the area before that,

1565
01:35:00,945 --> 01:35:05,908
but also saddened by the fact
that it may soon change.

1566
01:35:12,832 --> 01:35:15,250
I think when people
use that term "build a wall",

1567
01:35:15,460 --> 01:35:20,130
there are some that do believe
it needs to be a structure.

1568
01:35:20,340 --> 01:35:24,593
Um, I do believe there's others
that wanna see what...

1569
01:35:24,803 --> 01:35:27,680
what I would term "operational
control of our border".

1570
01:35:27,889 --> 01:35:29,848
[Will]
We should be able to know
what's coming back and forth

1571
01:35:30,058 --> 01:35:30,891
across our border.

1572
01:35:31,101 --> 01:35:33,227
Nobody disagrees with that.

1573
01:35:33,436 --> 01:35:35,688
And since our
technology is so cheap now,

1574
01:35:35,897 --> 01:35:37,648
it's basically disposable.

1575
01:35:37,857 --> 01:35:39,358
And that technology
can tell the difference

1576
01:35:39,567 --> 01:35:43,112
between a jackrabbit and a
person coming across the border.

1577
01:35:43,321 --> 01:35:45,239
And if that sensor
gets triggered,

1578
01:35:45,448 --> 01:35:48,033
you can
deploy men and women. The Border
Patrol will do the one thing

1579
01:35:48,243 --> 01:35:50,619
that only they can do,
interdiction, stopping this.

1580
01:35:50,829 --> 01:35:52,037
We can do that today

1581
01:35:52,247 --> 01:35:55,082
and that is
not the kind of technology

1582
01:35:55,291 --> 01:35:58,335
that we are giving our men
and women in Border Patrol

1583
01:35:58,545 --> 01:36:00,879
to do their job
about keeping us safe

1584
01:36:01,089 --> 01:36:02,381
and... and securing our border.

1585
01:36:02,590 --> 01:36:04,675
And again,
it's a fraction of the cost

1586
01:36:04,884 --> 01:36:07,219
of uh, building a...
a concrete structure

1587
01:36:07,429 --> 01:36:10,264
that you can go over or...
or dig under.

1588
01:36:11,349 --> 01:36:13,851
[Beto] For me, the...
the answer is not gonna be walls

1589
01:36:14,060 --> 01:36:15,102
or fences or physical barriers,

1590
01:36:15,311 --> 01:36:17,396
it is gonna be ensuring

1591
01:36:17,605 --> 01:36:20,149
that our immigration laws
match our reality,

1592
01:36:20,358 --> 01:36:23,277
uh, what our true needs are
in this country,

1593
01:36:23,486 --> 01:36:24,903
what our values are,

1594
01:36:25,113 --> 01:36:28,782
and, um, do so in keeping
with the best traditions

1595
01:36:28,992 --> 01:36:30,117
of Texas and this country.

1596
01:36:30,326 --> 01:36:31,827
Bipartisanship has become

1597
01:36:32,036 --> 01:36:34,163
a rare sight in Washington,
but on Tuesday,

1598
01:36:34,372 --> 01:36:37,249
Mother Nature brought
two Texas lawmakers together.

1599
01:36:37,459 --> 01:36:40,753
Their flights back to DC
were cancelled,
because of the snow.

1600
01:36:40,962 --> 01:36:43,297
So representatives
Will Hurd and Beto O'Rourke

1601
01:36:43,506 --> 01:36:46,341
decided to take to the road
to get back to work

1602
01:36:46,551 --> 01:36:49,720
and talked policy and
personal matters along the way.

1603
01:36:49,929 --> 01:36:53,348
And what I have found
is that working with Republicans

1604
01:36:53,558 --> 01:36:56,769
um, being able
to not allow the perfect

1605
01:36:56,978 --> 01:36:58,270
to become the enemy of the good

1606
01:36:58,480 --> 01:37:03,192
um, and uh, just focus
on making things better

1607
01:37:03,401 --> 01:37:04,943
um, you can make some progress.

1608
01:37:05,153 --> 01:37:08,322
And we can also disagree
without being disagreeable.

1609
01:37:08,531 --> 01:37:11,950
The competition of ideas is what
has made this country greatest,

1610
01:37:12,160 --> 01:37:14,787
what's made this experiment
called "America" work.

1611
01:37:14,996 --> 01:37:18,415
[Will] And way more unites us
than divides us.

1612
01:37:18,625 --> 01:37:20,751
Uh, then we can get a bigger...
a bigger car next time

1613
01:37:20,960 --> 01:37:21,877
and bring a few more people.

1614
01:37:22,086 --> 01:37:24,421
The rhetoric around all of this

1615
01:37:24,631 --> 01:37:29,468
that is uh, something that um,
we can't let continue to happen.

1616
01:37:29,677 --> 01:37:32,721
When people in Mexico
hear our president denigrate

1617
01:37:32,931 --> 01:37:35,432
that country, vilify Mexicans,

1618
01:37:35,642 --> 01:37:38,977
refer to Mexican immigrants
as rapists and criminals,

1619
01:37:39,187 --> 01:37:41,313
promise to build
a 2,000-mile wall

1620
01:37:41,523 --> 01:37:43,148
that will cost $30 billion

1621
01:37:43,358 --> 01:37:46,109
and say that Mexico
is gonna have to pay for it

1622
01:37:46,319 --> 01:37:49,446
um, Mexicans remind themselves
that they have

1623
01:37:49,656 --> 01:37:52,074
other potential partners
around the globe.

1624
01:37:57,956 --> 01:38:00,249
[Beto] They are
deepening trade relationships

1625
01:38:00,458 --> 01:38:03,961
with others at our expense.

1626
01:38:04,170 --> 01:38:06,922
The rhetoric will come
at a cost to our country.

1627
01:38:07,131 --> 01:38:10,342
And we have to improve um,
our understanding

1628
01:38:10,552 --> 01:38:13,428
of an area
that so many people talk about,

1629
01:38:13,638 --> 01:38:16,473
but many people have never been
and don't understand.

1630
01:38:19,143 --> 01:38:21,937
- [Laughing]
- [Ben] But you just sit there
and you look at it,

1631
01:38:22,146 --> 01:38:24,815
- go, "Wow, oh my god"
you know, like...
- These people

1632
01:38:25,024 --> 01:38:26,441
that are crossing,
how hard can it be?

1633
01:38:26,651 --> 01:38:28,360
- It looks scalable.
- [Ben] Oh yeah.

1634
01:38:28,570 --> 01:38:30,529
[Filipe]
I mean it's... it's America.

1635
01:38:30,738 --> 01:38:32,406
[Filipe] Especially
with the wide-angle lens on,

1636
01:38:32,615 --> 01:38:34,867
it looks even
that much more intimidating.

1637
01:38:35,076 --> 01:38:36,493
You gotta do it with a fisheye.

1638
01:38:38,162 --> 01:38:39,997
- I'm just curious now.
- [Austin laughing]

1639
01:38:40,206 --> 01:38:41,874
[Filipe] I'm just curious,
I just wanna see if it's...

1640
01:38:43,126 --> 01:38:46,253
- lf you jump on a 747.
- [Austin laughing]

1641
01:38:55,054 --> 01:38:57,973
Oh, there's a nice little
cup holder here for you, too.

1642
01:39:08,026 --> 01:39:08,984
[Austin] That was it?

1643
01:39:16,075 --> 01:39:17,242
[Filipe] Alright, so here is...

1644
01:39:17,452 --> 01:39:18,577
[taking deep breaths]

1645
01:39:18,786 --> 01:39:19,661
The wall.

1646
01:39:21,372 --> 01:39:24,458
[Filipe] There is Mexico,
there is the US,

1647
01:39:24,667 --> 01:39:25,918
there is me!

1648
01:39:26,127 --> 01:39:27,210
There is the wall,

1649
01:39:27,420 --> 01:39:28,670
there is
Border Patrol in the distance.

1650
01:39:30,173 --> 01:39:33,216
Not too uh... not too difficult.

1651
01:39:41,684 --> 01:39:44,144
[Gentle music]

1652
01:39:47,273 --> 01:39:49,191
Seeing people cross,

1653
01:39:51,444 --> 01:39:53,320
we were afraid

1654
01:39:54,364 --> 01:39:56,615
and alarmed

1655
01:39:56,824 --> 01:40:00,243
and unsure of the situation.

1656
01:40:02,080 --> 01:40:06,458
And to realize that those people
were also alarmed

1657
01:40:06,668 --> 01:40:08,335
and afraid

1658
01:40:08,544 --> 01:40:10,003
and unsure of the situation.

1659
01:40:13,299 --> 01:40:16,301
And we felt that feeling
for such a small instant

1660
01:40:16,511 --> 01:40:18,345
when we saw those groups
of people crossing.

1661
01:40:20,014 --> 01:40:23,183
And it was... it was...
it was stressful, it was tiring,

1662
01:40:23,393 --> 01:40:26,561
and to feel that for years,
and years, and years

1663
01:40:27,647 --> 01:40:29,356
made me realize...

1664
01:40:31,067 --> 01:40:35,070
that there is a bigger issue
than the actual crossing
into the country.

1665
01:40:39,409 --> 01:40:43,078
[Austin] If you think that
someone who's desperate enough

1666
01:40:43,287 --> 01:40:45,163
to move from
Guatemala to Austin,

1667
01:40:45,373 --> 01:40:47,499
and you think they're just
gonna turn right around,

1668
01:40:47,709 --> 01:40:49,126
because they see a wall
in front of 'em...

1669
01:40:51,254 --> 01:40:52,421
That's absurd.

1670
01:40:54,465 --> 01:40:56,550
That wanting a better life,

1671
01:40:58,219 --> 01:41:00,303
that's the issue that
needs to be approached.

1672
01:41:00,513 --> 01:41:02,723
[Gentle guitar music]

1673
01:41:15,278 --> 01:41:17,070
[Cheering]

1674
01:41:17,280 --> 01:41:18,697
[Jay] Preemptive wooh,
we're not there yet.

1675
01:41:18,906 --> 01:41:21,575
Preemptive.
Don't let go the boat just yet.

1676
01:41:21,784 --> 01:41:23,535
- White pelicans!
- [Heather indistinct]

1677
01:41:24,787 --> 01:41:26,455
[Filipe]
Skimmers, black skimmers!

1678
01:41:27,790 --> 01:41:29,750
[Heather] Skimmers, skimmers!

1679
01:41:34,255 --> 01:41:35,797
Done with this guy.

1680
01:41:38,134 --> 01:41:39,384
[Jay] It's bittersweet.

1681
01:41:39,594 --> 01:41:42,345
We become pretty close.

1682
01:41:42,555 --> 01:41:45,182
It's... I think
it's gonna be like surreal

1683
01:41:45,391 --> 01:41:47,267
to finally see the Gulf
and at the same time

1684
01:41:47,477 --> 01:41:50,479
like have a mix of emotions that
like, this is... this is ending.

1685
01:41:50,688 --> 01:41:52,147
I'm gonna miss you guys.

1686
01:41:52,356 --> 01:41:54,399
- Yeah.
- [Chuckling]

1687
01:41:54,609 --> 01:41:55,650
I'll miss you too, Ben.

1688
01:41:59,655 --> 01:42:02,199
[Soft music]

1689
01:42:19,509 --> 01:42:21,343
[Filipe]
I thought that the border

1690
01:42:21,552 --> 01:42:24,304
was just this
desolate no-man's land.

1691
01:42:28,726 --> 01:42:30,435
But when I actually
came out here,

1692
01:42:30,645 --> 01:42:33,605
I despised the idea
of a physical wall

1693
01:42:33,815 --> 01:42:35,774
and the reason
that I started to hate it

1694
01:42:35,983 --> 01:42:39,694
is because this land,
this country is damn beautiful.

1695
01:42:45,493 --> 01:42:47,327
[Heather] So tragic thinking
about a border wall

1696
01:42:47,537 --> 01:42:50,747
cutting through some
of the last remaining habitat

1697
01:42:50,957 --> 01:42:51,873
of this type...

1698
01:42:54,919 --> 01:43:00,173
that may be completely
ineffective and unnecessary.

1699
01:43:02,343 --> 01:43:06,763
[Jay] I don't think any of us
are ignorant to the challenges

1700
01:43:06,973 --> 01:43:10,058
um, in terms of immigration
and drug passing.

1701
01:43:10,268 --> 01:43:13,520
I think it's just the fact that
like what we learned so far,

1702
01:43:13,729 --> 01:43:17,065
this structure
that could be so destructive

1703
01:43:17,275 --> 01:43:19,609
to the environment
and the private property rights

1704
01:43:19,819 --> 01:43:21,653
and access to water,

1705
01:43:22,613 --> 01:43:26,575
that that destructive potential
quote, unquote "solution"

1706
01:43:26,784 --> 01:43:27,909
is not a solution.

1707
01:43:30,913 --> 01:43:33,665
[Gentle guitar music]

1708
01:43:35,251 --> 01:43:36,293
[Ben] It's a distraction,

1709
01:43:37,336 --> 01:43:40,255
a distraction that ignores
the root problems.

1710
01:43:43,926 --> 01:43:48,180
I feel honored to have seen
and documented the Rio Grande

1711
01:43:48,389 --> 01:43:50,557
before it's
potentially changed forever.

1712
01:43:54,979 --> 01:43:57,189
But it makes me so sad

1713
01:43:57,398 --> 01:44:01,860
to think that a political symbol
and a king of pain promise

1714
01:44:02,069 --> 01:44:04,404
could destroy
this beautiful landscape

1715
01:44:04,614 --> 01:44:05,780
that I've grown to love.

1716
01:44:08,993 --> 01:44:10,952
But I'm hopeful
for a silver lining

1717
01:44:12,455 --> 01:44:14,289
that all the attention
on the border

1718
01:44:14,498 --> 01:44:18,293
could lead to realistic
immigration reform,

1719
01:44:18,502 --> 01:44:21,630
a more sensible way
to approach border security,

1720
01:44:23,257 --> 01:44:26,384
and that the landscapes
of the mighty Rio Grande

1721
01:44:26,594 --> 01:44:30,305
finally get the respect and the
protection that they deserve.

1722
01:44:30,514 --> 01:44:33,225
[Gentle guitar music]

1723
01:44:45,696 --> 01:44:47,906
[Jay] I've been thinking about
this for almost a year

1724
01:44:48,115 --> 01:44:49,574
and I cannot believe

1725
01:44:49,784 --> 01:44:51,743
that we are almost
in the Gulf of Mexico right now.

1726
01:44:51,953 --> 01:44:53,828
[Cheering]

1727
01:44:54,038 --> 01:44:56,539
[Loud cheering]

1728
01:44:56,749 --> 01:45:00,001
[Epic music]

1729
01:45:27,905 --> 01:45:29,948
[Gentle guitar music]

1730
01:45:47,091 --> 01:45:49,301
[Ben] Every once in a while
it just hits me that

1731
01:45:49,510 --> 01:45:54,889
the photos' and the videos
that were taken here might be

1732
01:45:55,099 --> 01:45:58,393
some of the last

1733
01:45:58,602 --> 01:46:00,520
of the Rio Grande

1734
01:46:00,730 --> 01:46:02,439
before the wall is constructed.

1735
01:46:02,648 --> 01:46:06,318
<i>♪ Can hear those coyotes cry ♪</i>

1736
01:46:06,527 --> 01:46:07,986
It's just a crazy thing
to think about.

1737
01:46:08,195 --> 01:46:11,239
<i>♪ Won't be long before</i>
<i>they're all gone ♪</i>

1738
01:46:11,449 --> 01:46:14,367
<i>♪ Just the highway is left ♪</i>

1739
01:46:24,128 --> 01:46:27,589
<i>♪ I had a big imagination ♪</i>

1740
01:46:27,798 --> 01:46:30,050
<i>♪ I lose it every day ♪</i>

1741
01:46:32,136 --> 01:46:35,388
<i>♪ I never use my education ♪</i>

1742
01:46:35,598 --> 01:46:38,558
<i>♪ Didn't learn anything ♪</i>

1743
01:46:40,478 --> 01:46:42,604
<i>♪ ♪</i>