1 00:00:00,519 --> 00:00:01,850 [TV static drones] 2 00:00:01,919 --> 00:00:05,091 [bright tone] 3 00:00:13,998 --> 00:00:16,399 [wind whistling] 4 00:00:16,468 --> 00:00:19,368 [soft music] 5 00:00:19,437 --> 00:00:20,970 ♪ ♪ 6 00:00:21,038 --> 00:00:23,706 - When people ask me where I'm from... 7 00:00:23,775 --> 00:00:26,108 ♪ ♪ 8 00:00:26,177 --> 00:00:28,811 I say I'm a "fronteriza." 9 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:30,613 [indistinct chatter] 10 00:00:30,682 --> 00:00:32,481 I'm from la frontera, 11 00:00:32,549 --> 00:00:35,718 the border between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. 12 00:00:35,787 --> 00:00:39,021 ♪ ♪ 13 00:00:39,090 --> 00:00:42,558 These are two sister cities with one heart, 14 00:00:42,627 --> 00:00:44,793 un corazón... 15 00:00:44,862 --> 00:00:47,662 separated by a metal barrier. 16 00:00:47,731 --> 00:00:50,766 It carves its way between two countries-- 17 00:00:50,835 --> 00:00:53,736 the U.S. and México. 18 00:00:53,805 --> 00:00:58,340 ♪ ♪ 19 00:00:58,409 --> 00:01:01,911 For some, the ebb and flow of this region 20 00:01:01,980 --> 00:01:04,749 feels like a threat to be contained. 21 00:01:06,583 --> 00:01:10,085 A barbed-wire fence feels like an answer. 22 00:01:10,154 --> 00:01:15,557 ♪ ♪ 23 00:01:15,625 --> 00:01:19,561 Sometimes I imagine standing on top of that fence, 24 00:01:19,629 --> 00:01:23,432 walking it like a tightrope, suspended in between. 25 00:01:23,501 --> 00:01:26,868 ♪ ♪ 26 00:01:26,937 --> 00:01:31,642 That's what it feels like coming home to El Paso. 27 00:01:36,548 --> 00:01:39,448 [upbeat music] 28 00:01:39,517 --> 00:01:46,492 ♪ ♪ 29 00:01:59,037 --> 00:02:02,169 [garage door whirring] 30 00:02:13,051 --> 00:02:16,488 [all speaking Spanish] 31 00:02:36,908 --> 00:02:39,908 [light music] 32 00:02:39,977 --> 00:02:43,415 ♪ ♪ 33 00:02:49,387 --> 00:02:51,486 - As a kid, I'd come home from school 34 00:02:51,555 --> 00:02:53,392 and translate the mail for my dad. 35 00:02:55,692 --> 00:02:58,528 When I was 10, I helped my mom study 36 00:02:58,596 --> 00:03:00,562 for her citizenship exam, 37 00:03:00,630 --> 00:03:03,735 quizzing her on flash cards about American history. 38 00:03:05,903 --> 00:03:09,671 I'd often compare my working-class immigrant family 39 00:03:09,739 --> 00:03:11,810 to American families I saw on TV. 40 00:03:13,444 --> 00:03:17,079 Our lives seemed so different from theirs. 41 00:03:17,148 --> 00:03:20,286 [both speaking Spanish] 42 00:03:31,962 --> 00:03:32,999 both: Mm-hmm. 43 00:06:06,083 --> 00:06:09,484 [indistinct chatter] 44 00:06:09,553 --> 00:06:12,388 [traditional Mexican music playing] 45 00:06:12,456 --> 00:06:15,325 [people singing in Spanish] 46 00:06:15,394 --> 00:06:17,994 ♪ ♪ 47 00:06:18,062 --> 00:06:21,763 - Growing up in El Paso, on my parents' days off, 48 00:06:21,832 --> 00:06:25,367 we'd drive to Juarez for haircuts and groceries, 49 00:06:25,436 --> 00:06:26,803 visiting with family friends 50 00:06:26,871 --> 00:06:29,305 and filling bags with ripe papayas. 51 00:06:29,374 --> 00:06:33,170 ♪ ♪ 52 00:06:33,238 --> 00:06:34,677 The edges between the two cities 53 00:06:34,745 --> 00:06:37,713 were crisscrossed, mixed. 54 00:06:37,781 --> 00:06:40,616 I felt like I lived between two worlds 55 00:06:40,685 --> 00:06:42,921 and yet belonged to neither. 56 00:06:44,288 --> 00:06:47,589 [dramatic music] 57 00:06:47,658 --> 00:06:49,257 It wasn't until I left for college 58 00:06:49,326 --> 00:06:53,132 that I began to appreciate how unique that feeling is. 59 00:06:54,765 --> 00:06:58,600 Coming home now, I want to understand it better, 60 00:06:58,668 --> 00:07:01,370 to explore the complexities of El Paso 61 00:07:01,438 --> 00:07:03,939 with those that know its blurred edges. 62 00:07:04,008 --> 00:07:09,045 ♪ ♪ 63 00:07:09,113 --> 00:07:11,914 - So where did you do your quinceañera pictures? 64 00:07:11,982 --> 00:07:14,216 - I actually didn't have a quinceañera. 65 00:07:14,285 --> 00:07:15,784 - You did not. - I didn't. 66 00:07:15,853 --> 00:07:19,055 I didn't want one. - Oh, you're a rebel. 67 00:07:19,123 --> 00:07:22,219 - I was very lucky. I got a trip instead, so... 68 00:07:22,287 --> 00:07:24,393 - Uh-huh. - It was like a school trip. 69 00:07:24,462 --> 00:07:27,363 They did do, like-- you know Glamour Shots? 70 00:07:27,432 --> 00:07:28,998 - Yeah, yeah. 71 00:07:29,067 --> 00:07:30,833 - They had me in a quinceañera dress, 72 00:07:30,901 --> 00:07:32,868 but I never actually had the quinceañera. 73 00:07:32,937 --> 00:07:34,937 - Ah, so there is evidence of it. 74 00:07:35,006 --> 00:07:37,372 - There is evidence. 75 00:07:37,441 --> 00:07:40,510 I'm gonna take you where you see-- 76 00:07:40,579 --> 00:07:42,411 you see how close. 77 00:07:42,479 --> 00:07:44,913 Like, it feels like Juarez 78 00:07:44,982 --> 00:07:47,583 and El Paso are just one big city. 79 00:07:47,651 --> 00:07:50,386 But they just happen to be separated 80 00:07:50,455 --> 00:07:53,088 by the fence. 81 00:07:53,157 --> 00:07:56,859 - It's so weird that the main street of El Paso 82 00:07:56,928 --> 00:07:58,255 is the main street of Juarez. 83 00:07:58,323 --> 00:07:59,929 It just goes right across the bridge. 84 00:07:59,998 --> 00:08:03,866 - Yeah, my dad has a coworker who lives in Juarez. 85 00:08:03,935 --> 00:08:05,767 Her whole family lives there, 86 00:08:05,836 --> 00:08:07,536 but she works at the restaurant here in El Paso. 87 00:08:07,604 --> 00:08:09,071 And actually, we're passing by-- 88 00:08:09,139 --> 00:08:11,373 so Leo's, that is where my dad works. 89 00:08:11,442 --> 00:08:13,208 - That's your dad's restaurant? 90 00:08:13,277 --> 00:08:14,844 - Yeah, that's where he works 91 00:08:14,912 --> 00:08:17,980 and has worked there for over 20 years. 92 00:08:18,049 --> 00:08:22,384 You know, my mom has always worked in factories, 93 00:08:22,453 --> 00:08:23,819 like at Levi's and Hoover. 94 00:08:23,888 --> 00:08:26,655 And during-- was it early 2000s? 95 00:08:26,724 --> 00:08:28,758 Like, they shut a lot of these factories down. 96 00:08:28,826 --> 00:08:31,288 - Well, El Paso was bereft. 97 00:08:31,356 --> 00:08:33,828 You know, NAFTA crushed the city 98 00:08:33,897 --> 00:08:38,167 and also the agricultural industry in Mexico. 99 00:08:38,236 --> 00:08:45,211 ♪ ♪ 100 00:09:01,225 --> 00:09:03,525 - Have you been out here? 101 00:09:03,594 --> 00:09:06,027 - Yeah, when I was working on my book, 102 00:09:06,096 --> 00:09:10,099 I came out in this direction and went with a border guard. 103 00:09:10,168 --> 00:09:14,003 And I remember the atmosphere of this place. 104 00:09:14,072 --> 00:09:16,305 I often marvel over how different 105 00:09:16,373 --> 00:09:17,973 all of the cities in Texas are. 106 00:09:18,042 --> 00:09:20,510 The culture of each city is distinct. 107 00:09:20,579 --> 00:09:23,746 The idea of El Paso... 108 00:09:23,814 --> 00:09:26,015 you know, the pass, 109 00:09:26,083 --> 00:09:30,118 the name has been so resonant with me. 110 00:09:30,187 --> 00:09:33,155 People came across to have a better life, 111 00:09:33,224 --> 00:09:34,756 and they still do. 112 00:09:34,825 --> 00:09:39,128 So the pass, I think, is a very important concept, 113 00:09:39,196 --> 00:09:40,829 not just theoretical. 114 00:09:40,897 --> 00:09:44,967 It also works as something to think about in our lives. 115 00:09:45,036 --> 00:09:46,502 I guess the fact that I'm old 116 00:09:46,570 --> 00:09:49,504 and I feel my days are numbered 117 00:09:49,573 --> 00:09:52,169 and there is a passage ahead. 118 00:09:52,237 --> 00:09:53,843 [helicopter rotors whirring] 119 00:09:53,912 --> 00:09:56,145 There's the Border Patrol. both: Yeah. 120 00:09:56,213 --> 00:09:58,881 - You always see them. They're really everywhere. 121 00:09:58,950 --> 00:10:01,950 We're always under surveillance. 122 00:10:02,019 --> 00:10:05,020 Growing up, I'd always hear helicopters, the train. 123 00:10:05,089 --> 00:10:06,321 I mean, but it's just something 124 00:10:06,390 --> 00:10:10,693 that as, like, border people, you're just used to. 125 00:10:10,762 --> 00:10:12,428 And we're really close. 126 00:10:12,496 --> 00:10:14,496 Like, part of this mountain, 127 00:10:14,565 --> 00:10:16,532 Cristo Rey, goes into Juarez, right? 128 00:10:16,601 --> 00:10:18,704 So we're not very far at all. 129 00:10:27,878 --> 00:10:29,745 - Item number four is discussion and action 130 00:10:29,814 --> 00:10:31,780 to approve a resolution 131 00:10:31,849 --> 00:10:34,682 recognizing Dr. Guillermina Núñez-Mchiri 132 00:10:34,751 --> 00:10:37,189 and honoring her contributions to her community. 133 00:10:47,397 --> 00:10:49,165 [indistinct chatter] 134 00:10:49,233 --> 00:10:50,900 - Oh, yes. 135 00:10:50,969 --> 00:10:53,936 [laughter, person speaking Spanish] 136 00:10:54,005 --> 00:10:56,071 - As an ethnographer of the borderlands, 137 00:10:56,140 --> 00:10:58,640 my role is to tell the story of our community. 138 00:10:58,709 --> 00:11:00,643 There's always something new to study 139 00:11:00,711 --> 00:11:01,977 or something to document. 140 00:11:02,046 --> 00:11:03,879 I think El Paso is the ombligo. 141 00:11:03,947 --> 00:11:06,282 You know, it's like the belly button of the border. 142 00:11:06,350 --> 00:11:09,051 We have people from all over the world come study us. 143 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,787 So it's a very special place. 144 00:11:11,856 --> 00:11:13,121 It's not like the rest of Mexico. 145 00:11:13,190 --> 00:11:14,926 It's not like the rest of the nation. 146 00:11:16,961 --> 00:11:18,427 - [speaking Spanish] 147 00:11:18,496 --> 00:11:20,062 - People here are bilingual, 148 00:11:20,130 --> 00:11:22,364 switch back and forth between Spanish and English 149 00:11:22,433 --> 00:11:25,034 or perhaps a third language. 150 00:11:25,103 --> 00:11:26,936 They're fluid in their identities. 151 00:11:27,004 --> 00:11:28,737 Things are not always well-defined. 152 00:11:28,805 --> 00:11:33,075 Things are always in the process of transforming. 153 00:11:33,144 --> 00:11:34,843 For a lot of people, that ambivalence 154 00:11:34,912 --> 00:11:37,446 is riddled with anxiety and fear, right? 155 00:11:37,515 --> 00:11:39,782 But for a lot of us, you embrace that wave, right? 156 00:11:39,851 --> 00:11:41,617 A hybridity--I am both. 157 00:11:41,686 --> 00:11:43,085 I'm not one or the other. I'm both. 158 00:11:43,154 --> 00:11:44,920 Or I can be one or the other. 159 00:11:44,989 --> 00:11:46,856 It's to be very much accepting 160 00:11:46,924 --> 00:11:49,325 of this hybridity and flexibility. 161 00:11:49,394 --> 00:11:54,030 ♪ ♪ 162 00:11:54,098 --> 00:11:57,867 - Historically, this fluidity has been part of it 163 00:11:57,935 --> 00:11:59,168 since its inception. 164 00:11:59,237 --> 00:12:01,169 And so now you have all these things happening 165 00:12:01,238 --> 00:12:04,106 where there's always been, like, trying to stop 166 00:12:04,175 --> 00:12:06,812 a natural flow of this place. 167 00:12:08,278 --> 00:12:10,713 - When you understand that this nation is built 168 00:12:10,781 --> 00:12:12,247 from immigrants, 169 00:12:12,316 --> 00:12:15,782 then you understand there's a constant flow of migration. 170 00:12:17,588 --> 00:12:20,289 You close the border, it truncates everyday life. 171 00:12:20,357 --> 00:12:23,826 It really strangles our convivencia, 172 00:12:23,894 --> 00:12:25,961 our ability to live with one another. 173 00:12:26,030 --> 00:12:28,264 It just gets truncated. 174 00:12:28,332 --> 00:12:32,168 The idea is that the border needs to be contained, 175 00:12:32,236 --> 00:12:34,504 the Brown body needs to be contained and held back, 176 00:12:34,572 --> 00:12:36,172 that we should be left out, 177 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:38,173 where this has been our land forever. 178 00:12:38,242 --> 00:12:40,477 There's three- or four-generation tejanos 179 00:12:40,545 --> 00:12:41,976 and old mexicanos. 180 00:12:42,045 --> 00:12:46,015 They still know the land and the ranch they come from. 181 00:12:46,084 --> 00:12:48,484 They still know their ancestors 182 00:12:48,553 --> 00:12:50,920 and still call on them. 183 00:12:50,988 --> 00:12:52,788 We're not the other. 184 00:12:52,857 --> 00:12:55,725 [percussive music playing] 185 00:12:55,794 --> 00:13:02,665 ♪ ♪ 186 00:13:02,734 --> 00:13:05,832 [traditional Mexican music] 187 00:13:07,205 --> 00:13:11,239 - One of my earliest memories is taking the bus downtown 188 00:13:11,308 --> 00:13:12,608 with my mom, 189 00:13:12,676 --> 00:13:16,846 watching people from all walks of life shop at the tienditas 190 00:13:16,915 --> 00:13:19,182 and buy pan dulce at Bowie Bakery. 191 00:13:19,251 --> 00:13:22,417 ♪ ♪ 192 00:13:22,486 --> 00:13:25,024 I remember how alive those communities felt. 193 00:13:26,824 --> 00:13:30,960 Nestled within them was Duranguito... 194 00:13:31,028 --> 00:13:33,596 one of the oldest neighborhoods in El Paso. 195 00:13:33,665 --> 00:13:37,700 ♪ ♪ 196 00:13:37,769 --> 00:13:41,436 Apache people once lived here. 197 00:13:41,505 --> 00:13:44,073 And later, it served as a plotting ground 198 00:13:44,142 --> 00:13:46,309 for Mexican revolutionaries. 199 00:13:46,378 --> 00:13:51,280 ♪ ♪ 200 00:13:51,348 --> 00:13:54,884 Known as the Ellis Island of the Southwest, 201 00:13:54,952 --> 00:13:56,351 over the years, 202 00:13:56,420 --> 00:13:58,557 it grew into a vibrant community... 203 00:14:00,690 --> 00:14:05,561 A place where Mexican families could stay close to the border 204 00:14:05,630 --> 00:14:08,397 and live together 205 00:14:08,466 --> 00:14:11,466 in the in-between. 206 00:14:11,535 --> 00:14:14,203 - So this is a photo from almost 100 years ago. 207 00:14:14,272 --> 00:14:15,103 - Uh-huh. 208 00:14:15,172 --> 00:14:16,739 - So this part right here would have been 209 00:14:16,807 --> 00:14:18,140 the first ward, Duranguito. 210 00:14:18,209 --> 00:14:21,010 So it was known by the residents as Duranguito, 211 00:14:21,078 --> 00:14:24,780 but the city called it officially the first ward. 212 00:14:24,849 --> 00:14:26,716 So in 2016, 213 00:14:26,784 --> 00:14:30,019 the city declared on a Thursday 214 00:14:30,087 --> 00:14:32,649 that it was going to knock down 215 00:14:32,717 --> 00:14:37,125 approximately 11 acres of Duranguito 216 00:14:37,194 --> 00:14:40,062 to build a sports stadium. 217 00:14:40,131 --> 00:14:43,398 On Tuesday, they voted to use eminent domain 218 00:14:43,467 --> 00:14:45,734 to kick people out, take away their properties, 219 00:14:45,803 --> 00:14:48,136 appropriate them. 220 00:14:48,205 --> 00:14:51,540 This is gentrification on steroids. 221 00:14:51,608 --> 00:14:55,878 So part of what's going on is that these group of developers 222 00:14:55,946 --> 00:14:57,813 that want to destroy Duranguito 223 00:14:57,882 --> 00:14:59,715 are from both sides of the border. 224 00:14:59,783 --> 00:15:03,185 Dozens of people were kicked out from this street alone. 225 00:15:03,253 --> 00:15:04,686 Most of them were elderly. 226 00:15:04,755 --> 00:15:08,691 And now there's only two-- I call them guerrilleras, 227 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:10,725 just fierce fronteriza warriors 228 00:15:10,794 --> 00:15:14,797 that are saying, no way are you gonna destroy my home. 229 00:15:14,865 --> 00:15:16,932 I'm not gonna leave. 230 00:15:17,001 --> 00:15:19,671 [all chanting in Spanish] 231 00:15:30,849 --> 00:15:32,584 Eso es todo. [cheers and applause] 232 00:15:36,854 --> 00:15:39,755 [soft music] 233 00:15:39,824 --> 00:15:44,496 ♪ ♪ 234 00:16:19,697 --> 00:16:22,234 ♪ ♪ 235 00:16:27,333 --> 00:16:29,708 ♪ ♪ 236 00:16:38,611 --> 00:16:41,484 [saxophone music playing] 237 00:16:41,553 --> 00:16:48,527 ♪ ♪ 238 00:16:50,494 --> 00:16:53,562 - So the city hired an outside consultant 239 00:16:53,630 --> 00:16:58,100 from California to rebrand El Paso. 240 00:16:58,169 --> 00:17:01,136 And we know that the city council at that time 241 00:17:01,205 --> 00:17:04,540 voted unanimously to approve this presentation, 242 00:17:04,608 --> 00:17:09,311 to modernize "the image" of El Paso. 243 00:17:09,380 --> 00:17:12,181 These are a couple slides that show, 244 00:17:12,250 --> 00:17:16,919 if El Paso was a person today, who would it be? 245 00:17:16,987 --> 00:17:20,222 - It's an old cowboy, male, 246 00:17:20,291 --> 00:17:22,725 50 to 60 years old, 247 00:17:22,794 --> 00:17:25,494 gritty, dirty, 248 00:17:25,563 --> 00:17:28,898 lazy, speak Spanish, uneducated. 249 00:17:28,967 --> 00:17:30,800 That could be my grandfather. 250 00:17:30,869 --> 00:17:32,200 I mean, he really looks like-- 251 00:17:32,269 --> 00:17:35,271 my grandfather would wear his hat all the time. 252 00:17:35,339 --> 00:17:38,840 And so yeah, that could be anybody's abuelito. Wow. 253 00:17:38,908 --> 00:17:42,011 - Yeah, and so this is who they would replace us with. 254 00:17:42,079 --> 00:17:43,212 - The New West. 255 00:17:43,281 --> 00:17:44,613 - The New West, not the Old West. 256 00:17:44,681 --> 00:17:46,782 - Male, female, 30 to 40 years old, 257 00:17:46,851 --> 00:17:49,952 educated, entrepreneurial. 258 00:17:50,021 --> 00:17:52,420 So is that why they include McConaughey 259 00:17:52,489 --> 00:17:53,989 and Penelope Cruz? - Matthew McConaughey... 260 00:17:54,058 --> 00:17:55,257 - 'Cause they "enjoy entertain"-- 261 00:17:55,326 --> 00:17:56,762 - And Penelope Cruz. - Oh, my God. 262 00:18:02,432 --> 00:18:04,967 - The history of erasure here on the border 263 00:18:05,036 --> 00:18:08,037 has always been somehow connected 264 00:18:08,106 --> 00:18:11,039 to the idea of cleansing 265 00:18:11,108 --> 00:18:14,872 and, I would say, ethnic cleansing. 266 00:18:14,940 --> 00:18:17,913 Back then, whenever you would cross 267 00:18:17,982 --> 00:18:19,949 from Juarez to El Paso, 268 00:18:20,018 --> 00:18:22,350 you had to take off your clothes, 269 00:18:22,419 --> 00:18:26,321 strip naked, and put your shoes and clothes 270 00:18:26,390 --> 00:18:28,858 in a big steam dryer. 271 00:18:28,927 --> 00:18:31,626 This is the floor plan from 1917. 272 00:18:31,695 --> 00:18:35,564 You can see where they go in, through the undressing room, 273 00:18:35,633 --> 00:18:39,401 and then here would have been the steam dryer. 274 00:18:39,469 --> 00:18:42,671 - Between Juarez and El Paso, there was this facility there. 275 00:18:42,739 --> 00:18:44,439 - It was called a quarantine plant. 276 00:18:44,508 --> 00:18:46,408 And that's where they would have to be deloused 277 00:18:46,477 --> 00:18:49,078 and fumigated-- Mexican border crossers. 278 00:18:49,146 --> 00:18:50,746 And here is the gas room. 279 00:18:50,814 --> 00:18:53,883 And so, obviously, the natural question is, like, 280 00:18:53,952 --> 00:18:55,585 what kind of gas is being used 281 00:18:55,653 --> 00:18:58,390 against Mexican border crossers? 282 00:19:00,124 --> 00:19:03,225 They were using this gas right here-- 283 00:19:03,294 --> 00:19:06,462 Giftgas, Zyklon B. - Oh, wow. 284 00:19:06,530 --> 00:19:10,599 - And this is 1936, like, before Zyklon B is being used 285 00:19:10,668 --> 00:19:14,503 in concentrated doses in concentration camps 286 00:19:14,572 --> 00:19:17,572 to kill not pests, insects, but human-- 287 00:19:17,641 --> 00:19:19,575 people that they considered human pests. 288 00:19:19,643 --> 00:19:22,111 - So before the Holocaust, Zyklon B was here 289 00:19:22,180 --> 00:19:24,680 in the border and being used to "disinfect"... 290 00:19:24,749 --> 00:19:25,580 - Disinfect. 291 00:19:25,649 --> 00:19:26,982 - Mexican immigrants and people. 292 00:19:27,051 --> 00:19:28,951 - Yeah. 293 00:19:29,020 --> 00:19:30,720 Here are some of the photographs. 294 00:19:30,788 --> 00:19:32,587 That's the DDT. 295 00:19:32,656 --> 00:19:35,590 It was banned in the United States 296 00:19:35,659 --> 00:19:39,394 because of its potential to cause cancer. 297 00:19:39,463 --> 00:19:42,064 - How long did this go on for? 298 00:19:42,133 --> 00:19:44,734 - So it begins in 1917. 299 00:19:44,803 --> 00:19:46,368 More than 100,000 people, 300 00:19:46,437 --> 00:19:48,470 according to the records... - Went through this process. 301 00:19:48,539 --> 00:19:50,839 - Went through this process just that year. 302 00:19:50,907 --> 00:19:55,778 So it goes on at different degrees of intensity, 303 00:19:55,847 --> 00:19:57,646 until, like, the mid-'30s, 304 00:19:57,714 --> 00:20:00,349 and then it kind of stops for a while. 305 00:20:00,417 --> 00:20:03,753 And then beginning in 1942, 306 00:20:03,822 --> 00:20:05,620 it's going to be used-- 307 00:20:05,689 --> 00:20:08,791 all these, you know, very harmful pesticides 308 00:20:08,860 --> 00:20:11,493 are gonna be used against the braceros. 309 00:20:11,562 --> 00:20:13,828 And remember that the braceros-- 310 00:20:13,897 --> 00:20:17,832 The whole bracero guest worker program was created-- 311 00:20:17,901 --> 00:20:19,902 an agreement between Mexico and the United States-- 312 00:20:19,971 --> 00:20:22,237 because the United States desperately needed... 313 00:20:22,306 --> 00:20:24,406 - Yeah. - Their help. 314 00:20:24,475 --> 00:20:26,609 - Well, wasn't it the first legal guest-worker program? 315 00:20:26,678 --> 00:20:29,845 My grandfather was a bracero. 316 00:20:29,914 --> 00:20:32,681 - So more than 4 million people, you know, 317 00:20:32,749 --> 00:20:35,984 went through these just totally degrading... 318 00:20:36,053 --> 00:20:38,654 - Mm-hmm. - Experiences. 319 00:20:38,722 --> 00:20:40,889 And a lot of this is just erased, you know, 320 00:20:40,958 --> 00:20:43,495 from the consciousness. - Yeah, that's crazy. 321 00:20:47,397 --> 00:20:50,536 [indistinct chatter] 322 00:20:53,370 --> 00:20:55,570 [players shouting in Spanish] 323 00:20:55,639 --> 00:20:58,477 [all chattering indistinctly in Spanish] 324 00:21:01,178 --> 00:21:03,310 [door clicks open] 325 00:21:09,921 --> 00:21:12,088 - [laughs, speaking Spanish] 326 00:21:12,156 --> 00:21:16,858 I got involved in Duranguito, and that started in 2016. 327 00:21:16,926 --> 00:21:19,990 I met Antonia Morales, who we know as Toñita, 328 00:21:20,059 --> 00:21:21,796 and it was really when we found out 329 00:21:21,865 --> 00:21:26,535 that Duranguito was the target for the city's sports arena. 330 00:21:26,604 --> 00:21:31,240 And Toñita very much reminds me of my great-grandparents, 331 00:21:31,308 --> 00:21:34,043 my grandparents, my mom, 332 00:21:34,111 --> 00:21:36,912 because she knows her worth. 333 00:21:36,980 --> 00:21:40,516 And she's not going to let anyone define that for her. 334 00:21:40,585 --> 00:21:44,519 [soft dramatic music] 335 00:21:44,588 --> 00:21:46,188 On my grandfather's side, my great-grandparents 336 00:21:46,257 --> 00:21:49,525 immigrated to El Paso in the 1920s. 337 00:21:49,593 --> 00:21:52,261 They were both teenagers, both undocumented. 338 00:21:52,330 --> 00:21:54,829 ♪ ♪ 339 00:21:54,898 --> 00:21:58,366 My great-grandfather Patano, he had a job with the railroad 340 00:21:58,435 --> 00:22:01,231 in El Paso for over 40 years. 341 00:22:01,300 --> 00:22:04,472 But even though it was a good-paying job, 342 00:22:04,541 --> 00:22:06,508 no one would show him a nice house. 343 00:22:06,577 --> 00:22:09,245 No one would help him borrow money to buy a nice house. 344 00:22:09,313 --> 00:22:10,612 And so they lived next to the railroad 345 00:22:10,681 --> 00:22:13,381 in different tenements for a few years. 346 00:22:13,450 --> 00:22:15,885 And because now they had legal status, 347 00:22:15,954 --> 00:22:16,919 they could go to Mexico. 348 00:22:16,988 --> 00:22:19,021 And so they bought a house in Juarez, 349 00:22:19,090 --> 00:22:20,389 and then he commuted, 350 00:22:20,458 --> 00:22:22,425 and then his son commuted, my grandpa, 351 00:22:22,494 --> 00:22:24,292 and then my mom commuted. 352 00:22:24,361 --> 00:22:25,627 And it took us four generations 353 00:22:25,696 --> 00:22:27,462 for me to be able to live in this neighborhood. 354 00:22:27,531 --> 00:22:29,265 My grandfather should have been raised 355 00:22:29,333 --> 00:22:30,367 in this neighborhood. - Yeah. 356 00:22:30,435 --> 00:22:31,300 - Why not? 357 00:22:31,368 --> 00:22:32,935 There were working-class families here, too, 358 00:22:33,004 --> 00:22:34,906 but they were white. 359 00:22:37,608 --> 00:22:40,808 I was born in El Paso and raised in Ciudad Juarez. 360 00:22:40,877 --> 00:22:43,345 I grew up having to declare my citizenship 361 00:22:43,414 --> 00:22:45,881 every single day for school. 362 00:22:45,949 --> 00:22:48,651 And I saw my mom doing that so she could go to work. 363 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,553 My ability to speak Spanish 364 00:22:51,621 --> 00:22:53,255 when I started school in El Paso 365 00:22:53,323 --> 00:22:54,591 was not seen as an asset. 366 00:22:54,659 --> 00:22:56,459 It was a deficiency. 367 00:22:56,528 --> 00:22:59,328 And that in-betweenness 368 00:22:59,397 --> 00:23:00,930 always felt like a really hard choice. 369 00:23:00,998 --> 00:23:02,298 It felt like a betrayal, 370 00:23:02,366 --> 00:23:03,632 like you're saying no to Mexico 371 00:23:03,701 --> 00:23:06,105 and yes to the U.S. and opportunities. 372 00:23:07,939 --> 00:23:09,671 You were supposed to melt into something 373 00:23:09,739 --> 00:23:11,608 that didn't really look like you anymore, right? 374 00:23:11,676 --> 00:23:14,243 The outcome was a product 375 00:23:14,311 --> 00:23:16,145 that spoke perfect English, 376 00:23:16,213 --> 00:23:18,514 that wore certain clothing, 377 00:23:18,582 --> 00:23:21,918 that presented in a certain way. 378 00:23:21,986 --> 00:23:23,920 And it was very white. 379 00:23:23,988 --> 00:23:26,022 Why should you lose your accent? 380 00:23:26,090 --> 00:23:28,256 Why shouldn't you say that you live in Juarez 381 00:23:28,325 --> 00:23:29,358 and grew up there? 382 00:23:29,426 --> 00:23:30,993 Why should you be ashamed? 383 00:23:31,062 --> 00:23:32,828 As I've grown older, 384 00:23:32,897 --> 00:23:37,533 I've created my own sense of belonging. 385 00:23:37,602 --> 00:23:39,601 I belong to both countries. 386 00:23:39,670 --> 00:23:43,138 But my heart's always broken by one or the other. 387 00:23:43,207 --> 00:23:46,141 [melancholy music] 388 00:23:46,210 --> 00:23:47,209 Both of our countries 389 00:23:47,278 --> 00:23:50,546 have really failed to put people at the center, 390 00:23:50,614 --> 00:23:52,982 and they, you know, have exploited this narrative 391 00:23:53,050 --> 00:23:55,384 that we're sister cities, sister countries, 392 00:23:55,453 --> 00:23:56,952 when we're really not. 393 00:23:57,021 --> 00:23:59,654 ♪ ♪ 394 00:23:59,723 --> 00:24:01,857 Our land has been used to implement 395 00:24:01,925 --> 00:24:04,460 such terrible, inhumane immigration policies. 396 00:24:04,529 --> 00:24:07,162 ♪ ♪ 397 00:24:07,231 --> 00:24:10,832 We do have freshly arrived immigrants who are here, 398 00:24:10,901 --> 00:24:13,563 the vast majority of them, to work and contribute 399 00:24:13,632 --> 00:24:16,138 and continue building on what other people of color 400 00:24:16,207 --> 00:24:18,840 have built in this country. 401 00:24:18,908 --> 00:24:22,181 I don't want people to think history is in the past. 402 00:24:23,714 --> 00:24:26,014 Unless we address the systemic changes, 403 00:24:26,083 --> 00:24:28,984 we are just perpetuating the same thing. 404 00:24:29,053 --> 00:24:31,520 ♪ ♪ 405 00:24:31,589 --> 00:24:34,890 [train horn blowing] 406 00:24:34,959 --> 00:24:41,968 ♪ ♪ 407 00:24:55,613 --> 00:24:58,113 - So often I've seen my hometown 408 00:24:58,182 --> 00:25:00,916 at the center of national debate... 409 00:25:00,985 --> 00:25:03,952 ♪ ♪ 410 00:25:04,021 --> 00:25:06,923 A perception of fear and the word "crisis" 411 00:25:06,991 --> 00:25:09,858 on repeat in the daily news cycle. 412 00:25:09,927 --> 00:25:13,462 ♪ ♪ 413 00:25:13,531 --> 00:25:15,697 But for those that are from here, 414 00:25:15,766 --> 00:25:18,133 the comings and goings of this region 415 00:25:18,202 --> 00:25:19,868 are part of its fabric. 416 00:25:19,937 --> 00:25:22,939 ♪ ♪ 417 00:25:23,007 --> 00:25:25,841 Up close, locals open their arms 418 00:25:25,910 --> 00:25:27,976 to those who have left their home, 419 00:25:28,045 --> 00:25:31,079 just as my parents once had to. 420 00:25:31,148 --> 00:25:35,050 ♪ ♪ 421 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:38,721 Here, that fluidity isn't something to be feared. 422 00:25:38,789 --> 00:25:40,556 It's a way of life. 423 00:25:40,625 --> 00:25:47,799 ♪ ♪ 424 00:26:03,515 --> 00:26:06,652 [both speaking Spanish] 425 00:26:47,158 --> 00:26:53,132 ♪ ♪ 426 00:26:54,498 --> 00:26:56,798 - So the Casa del Refugiado 427 00:26:56,866 --> 00:26:59,068 is a place that provides hospitality for the migrant. 428 00:26:59,136 --> 00:27:01,169 So we're not here to provide social services 429 00:27:01,238 --> 00:27:02,104 or legal services, 430 00:27:02,172 --> 00:27:03,672 but we're here to make sure that people 431 00:27:03,741 --> 00:27:06,007 are able to get safely to their final destination. 432 00:27:06,076 --> 00:27:09,044 So we make sure that they have beds, that they have food, 433 00:27:09,113 --> 00:27:12,114 that they have showers, that they feel respected 434 00:27:12,182 --> 00:27:15,350 and safe while they're here and are able to connect 435 00:27:15,419 --> 00:27:17,252 with their families and get the tickets that they need 436 00:27:17,321 --> 00:27:19,355 to go where they're headed in the United States. 437 00:27:19,424 --> 00:27:22,191 [indistinct chatter] 438 00:27:22,260 --> 00:27:23,759 - [shouting in Spanish] 439 00:27:23,828 --> 00:27:25,494 - As we have more people crossing, 440 00:27:25,563 --> 00:27:26,795 we're hoping that the city of El Paso 441 00:27:26,864 --> 00:27:28,798 will really step up and provide a space 442 00:27:28,866 --> 00:27:32,201 for people as they cross. 443 00:27:32,269 --> 00:27:35,207 [trolley bell dinging] 444 00:27:41,140 --> 00:27:43,749 [line trills] 445 00:27:45,015 --> 00:27:49,921 - Do you have a minute to edit the Annunciation House story? 446 00:27:51,789 --> 00:27:52,955 Oh, okay, perfect, 447 00:27:53,023 --> 00:27:55,324 'cause Sam says he's still on another story. 448 00:27:55,392 --> 00:27:57,394 So can I drop the ID? 449 00:27:57,462 --> 00:27:59,966 [keyboard keys clacking] 450 00:28:05,002 --> 00:28:06,936 Immigration reporting, I think, 451 00:28:07,005 --> 00:28:08,670 is a natural extension of reporting 452 00:28:08,738 --> 00:28:10,872 on the U.S.-Mexico relationship. 453 00:28:10,941 --> 00:28:13,910 And so, because I started my career at the border, 454 00:28:13,978 --> 00:28:15,844 that I sort of fell into. 455 00:28:15,913 --> 00:28:18,951 It was just the first job that I got was in El Paso. 456 00:28:21,313 --> 00:28:22,451 - You're now, I mean, 457 00:28:22,519 --> 00:28:25,888 reporting a lot on all of this stuff all the time 458 00:28:25,956 --> 00:28:28,557 and also living it, given that your partner, 459 00:28:28,626 --> 00:28:30,058 you know, lives in Juarez. 460 00:28:30,127 --> 00:28:33,430 - Immigration has become a bigger and bigger theme 461 00:28:33,498 --> 00:28:35,764 in American politics. 462 00:28:35,833 --> 00:28:37,734 My partner and I, he used to come to El Paso, 463 00:28:37,802 --> 00:28:39,134 and I used to go to Juarez, 464 00:28:39,203 --> 00:28:42,304 but the restrictions basically forced me 465 00:28:42,373 --> 00:28:44,977 to do all of the crossing. 466 00:28:47,011 --> 00:28:49,912 When we first met, we both had 467 00:28:49,981 --> 00:28:52,642 very nearly the same privileges at the border. 468 00:28:52,711 --> 00:28:55,717 He had been crossing since he was a kid. 469 00:28:55,786 --> 00:28:58,320 And I had the right to go back and forth. 470 00:28:58,388 --> 00:29:00,856 He had the right to go back and forth legally. 471 00:29:00,924 --> 00:29:03,996 And we lived our lives on both sides of the border. 472 00:29:06,030 --> 00:29:09,135 [person speaking Spanish] 473 00:29:12,937 --> 00:29:15,304 - [speaking Spanish] - Okay. 474 00:29:15,372 --> 00:29:16,976 - [speaking Spanish] 475 00:29:20,945 --> 00:29:22,848 Bye. Te amo mucho. - Okay. 476 00:29:33,157 --> 00:29:35,891 When the pandemic hit and the border restrictions 477 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:36,926 went into effect, 478 00:29:36,994 --> 00:29:39,995 my partner could no longer cross the border. 479 00:29:40,064 --> 00:29:43,098 No Mexican nationals with a tourist visa could. 480 00:29:43,167 --> 00:29:47,136 So it cut off a part of their lives 481 00:29:47,204 --> 00:29:51,043 that they had never lived without. 482 00:29:55,580 --> 00:29:56,915 Okay, turn around. 483 00:30:00,812 --> 00:30:03,653 - Since you live on both sides of the border, 484 00:30:03,721 --> 00:30:06,523 how do you understand 485 00:30:06,591 --> 00:30:08,623 the border in your life? 486 00:30:08,692 --> 00:30:11,727 - Not everyone has the same experience crossing the border 487 00:30:11,796 --> 00:30:14,229 as a white woman 488 00:30:14,298 --> 00:30:17,934 with, you know, a lot of privilege 489 00:30:18,002 --> 00:30:19,535 to be able to go back and forth. 490 00:30:19,604 --> 00:30:21,070 As a U.S. citizen, 491 00:30:21,138 --> 00:30:22,937 I experience the border in one way, 492 00:30:23,006 --> 00:30:26,842 whereas someone who is from México or who has a visa 493 00:30:26,910 --> 00:30:30,412 experiences it in an entirely different way. 494 00:30:30,481 --> 00:30:32,982 A lot of people are in this situation 495 00:30:33,051 --> 00:30:34,950 and not just with a romantic partner 496 00:30:35,018 --> 00:30:37,954 but with their own children or with their parents. 497 00:30:38,022 --> 00:30:40,890 And, you know, it's very painful 498 00:30:40,958 --> 00:30:43,325 for a lot of people. 499 00:30:43,393 --> 00:30:45,928 - Lauren, what accounts for this immense increase 500 00:30:45,996 --> 00:30:47,730 in the numbers? 501 00:30:47,798 --> 00:30:49,898 - It used to be, as we know, 502 00:30:49,967 --> 00:30:53,602 that the majority of people crossing the U.S. border 503 00:30:53,671 --> 00:30:55,371 were Mexican nationals... - Mm-hmm. 504 00:30:55,439 --> 00:30:59,174 - Often looking for work or to reunite with family here. 505 00:30:59,243 --> 00:31:01,343 That has changed dramatically. 506 00:31:01,412 --> 00:31:03,245 I mean, now there are people from all over the world 507 00:31:03,313 --> 00:31:05,781 who are crossing through México 508 00:31:05,850 --> 00:31:07,644 to reach the Southwest border 509 00:31:07,712 --> 00:31:09,418 with hopes of something in the U.S., 510 00:31:09,487 --> 00:31:12,287 whether it's asylum, an opportunity to work, 511 00:31:12,356 --> 00:31:14,624 an opportunity to reunite with family. 512 00:31:14,693 --> 00:31:16,826 - Has the wall made a difference? 513 00:31:16,895 --> 00:31:19,661 - Border Patrol says that a physical barrier 514 00:31:19,730 --> 00:31:24,634 at the border that funnels people through small openings 515 00:31:24,703 --> 00:31:28,037 makes it easier for them to track 516 00:31:28,106 --> 00:31:31,373 those who would try to evade capture, okay? 517 00:31:31,442 --> 00:31:36,145 Immigrant advocates would say the wall pushes people 518 00:31:36,214 --> 00:31:39,314 into extremely dangerous terrain, 519 00:31:39,383 --> 00:31:41,984 where they are more likely to die. 520 00:31:42,053 --> 00:31:43,152 So whether-- 521 00:31:43,221 --> 00:31:45,153 - Dozens die every month, right? 522 00:31:45,222 --> 00:31:48,224 - Here in El Paso, we have had numerous deaths 523 00:31:48,292 --> 00:31:50,359 just in the summer-- people drowning 524 00:31:50,428 --> 00:31:53,796 in the Rio Grande or the Rio Bravo Canal, 525 00:31:53,865 --> 00:31:55,597 falling off the wall. 526 00:31:55,665 --> 00:31:58,000 - I don't know. Are we using antiquated systems 527 00:31:58,069 --> 00:32:00,068 to keep people out? 528 00:32:00,137 --> 00:32:03,473 And is that causing more harm and more violence 529 00:32:03,542 --> 00:32:05,373 than there needs to be? 530 00:32:05,442 --> 00:32:08,076 - I've been doing this a long, long time, 531 00:32:08,145 --> 00:32:11,046 looking at the border, writing about the border, 532 00:32:11,115 --> 00:32:12,414 you know, talking to Border Patrol, 533 00:32:12,483 --> 00:32:16,252 talking to people who are migrating themselves. 534 00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:19,021 So often the conversation around immigration 535 00:32:19,090 --> 00:32:22,257 and around the border gets boiled down to rhetoric. 536 00:32:22,326 --> 00:32:25,928 When we focus solely on the border, 537 00:32:25,997 --> 00:32:27,562 kind of miss the point. - Mm-hmm. 538 00:32:27,631 --> 00:32:30,065 - The border should be, like, the last place 539 00:32:30,134 --> 00:32:32,468 that we're dealing with an issue. 540 00:32:32,537 --> 00:32:35,672 [train horn blowing] 541 00:32:35,740 --> 00:32:38,374 [soft guitar music] 542 00:32:38,443 --> 00:32:45,417 ♪ ♪ 543 00:32:52,523 --> 00:32:54,289 - Yeah, so from this vantage point, 544 00:32:54,358 --> 00:32:57,693 what I love about these two cities 545 00:32:57,762 --> 00:33:00,095 is that, from up above, 546 00:33:00,164 --> 00:33:02,231 when you look out, it's seamless. 547 00:33:02,299 --> 00:33:03,733 - Yeah. - You can't see the border. 548 00:33:03,801 --> 00:33:06,769 It looks like one big city. 549 00:33:06,838 --> 00:33:08,204 And so if you look out from here, 550 00:33:08,272 --> 00:33:10,706 you can't tell where one country begins 551 00:33:10,775 --> 00:33:12,570 and the other ends. 552 00:33:12,638 --> 00:33:14,243 - Monica, where is the wall? 553 00:33:14,311 --> 00:33:18,947 - The wall is hiding, tucked behind this highway 554 00:33:19,016 --> 00:33:21,117 that you see, which is relatively new. 555 00:33:21,185 --> 00:33:22,751 - Uh-huh. - It's just below there. 556 00:33:22,820 --> 00:33:24,556 We can't see it from up here. 557 00:33:28,558 --> 00:33:32,294 When you have two countries, two cities side by side 558 00:33:32,363 --> 00:33:35,898 that are vastly unequal in terms of wealth, 559 00:33:35,967 --> 00:33:37,399 in terms of safety, 560 00:33:37,467 --> 00:33:39,836 the more militarized the division zone 561 00:33:39,904 --> 00:33:42,670 between the two of them are. 562 00:33:42,739 --> 00:33:45,775 The United States, I think, has used Mexico 563 00:33:45,843 --> 00:33:48,310 to its economic advantage. 564 00:33:48,379 --> 00:33:52,581 You can manufacture a flat-screen TV 565 00:33:52,649 --> 00:33:56,285 for far less money on that side of the border 566 00:33:56,353 --> 00:33:57,887 than you can on this side. 567 00:33:57,955 --> 00:33:59,388 A kid growing up 568 00:33:59,456 --> 00:34:01,856 in a low-income neighborhood in Juarez, 569 00:34:01,925 --> 00:34:05,894 you know, can choose to work at a factory for $11 a day 570 00:34:05,963 --> 00:34:07,262 or work for a drug cartel, 571 00:34:07,331 --> 00:34:09,966 which is gonna pay far more. 572 00:34:10,034 --> 00:34:13,902 When I started out reporting 16 years ago, 573 00:34:13,970 --> 00:34:18,607 I think I felt a lot safer on this side of the border. 574 00:34:18,676 --> 00:34:22,810 I'd cross back from Juarez and breathe a sigh of relief, 575 00:34:22,879 --> 00:34:25,280 thinking, yeah, I'm now in one of the safest cities 576 00:34:25,349 --> 00:34:26,648 in America. - Yeah. 577 00:34:26,716 --> 00:34:31,520 - And I don't feel that way so much anymore. 578 00:34:31,589 --> 00:34:36,358 The drug violence in Juarez, it's all about business. 579 00:34:36,427 --> 00:34:39,161 The violence on the American side of the border 580 00:34:39,229 --> 00:34:41,230 has a more nebulous origin. 581 00:34:41,298 --> 00:34:43,799 It's more ideological. 582 00:34:43,868 --> 00:34:46,268 And so that's harder to-- 583 00:34:46,336 --> 00:34:48,037 - That's an interesting distinction, yeah. 584 00:34:48,105 --> 00:34:50,072 - To protect yourself from. - Yeah, yeah. 585 00:34:50,141 --> 00:34:52,741 Well, the Walmart massacre is a perfect example 586 00:34:52,810 --> 00:34:55,910 of what you're saying, is, you know, the threat didn't-- 587 00:34:55,979 --> 00:34:58,981 you know, the massacre didn't come from across the river. 588 00:34:59,049 --> 00:35:00,548 It came from our side. 589 00:35:00,617 --> 00:35:03,152 - The threat is coming from within, 590 00:35:03,220 --> 00:35:06,255 and it's a very real and deadly threat 591 00:35:06,324 --> 00:35:09,487 with severe consequences. 592 00:35:09,555 --> 00:35:12,161 [dramatic music] 593 00:35:12,229 --> 00:35:14,529 - Were you here during the massacre? 594 00:35:14,598 --> 00:35:17,199 - Yes. - What was your experience? 595 00:35:17,268 --> 00:35:20,703 - Ay. [sighs] Well... 596 00:35:20,772 --> 00:35:22,337 it was a Saturday morning. 597 00:35:22,406 --> 00:35:27,176 I was driving into town and... 598 00:35:27,244 --> 00:35:29,278 got a cell phone call. 599 00:35:29,347 --> 00:35:31,480 Actually, I looked at my cell phone 600 00:35:31,549 --> 00:35:34,549 and saw that I had many calls, many messages. 601 00:35:34,618 --> 00:35:36,819 And that's typically not a good thing 602 00:35:36,888 --> 00:35:39,221 when you're a journalist. - Yeah, right. Yeah. 603 00:35:39,290 --> 00:35:41,556 - And so reading through them, 604 00:35:41,625 --> 00:35:44,592 I recognized that the shooting-- 605 00:35:44,661 --> 00:35:46,896 there had been a mass shooting in my hometown. 606 00:35:46,965 --> 00:35:49,365 So I pulled off the interstate, 607 00:35:49,433 --> 00:35:52,368 called the editor at NPR. 608 00:35:52,436 --> 00:35:54,569 And I remember the conversation. 609 00:35:54,638 --> 00:35:57,339 I was saying, this is gonna be very difficult for me, 610 00:35:57,407 --> 00:36:00,742 the significance of this place and who lives here 611 00:36:00,810 --> 00:36:04,847 and how we were being targeted and harmed by rhetoric. 612 00:36:04,916 --> 00:36:10,252 ♪ ♪ 613 00:36:10,321 --> 00:36:13,821 - Joining us now is reporter Mónica Ortiz Uribe. 614 00:36:13,890 --> 00:36:16,458 - We know a gunman with a rifle entered the store 615 00:36:16,526 --> 00:36:19,394 wearing earmuffs and began shooting at random. 616 00:36:19,463 --> 00:36:20,995 A suspect is in custody. 617 00:36:21,064 --> 00:36:25,167 He's a 21-year-old male from a suburb outside Dallas. 618 00:36:25,235 --> 00:36:27,135 So I spoke with a family of three, 619 00:36:27,204 --> 00:36:28,703 a mother and her two teenage children, 620 00:36:28,772 --> 00:36:31,005 who were shopping in the Walmart this morning. 621 00:36:31,074 --> 00:36:33,442 They told me they were approaching the cash register 622 00:36:33,511 --> 00:36:35,410 when the mother heard shots fired. 623 00:36:35,479 --> 00:36:37,512 They described the scene inside as chaotic, 624 00:36:37,581 --> 00:36:40,082 lots of people screaming, small children lost, 625 00:36:40,150 --> 00:36:41,784 crying for their mothers. 626 00:36:41,852 --> 00:36:43,952 There's a manifesto circulating online 627 00:36:44,021 --> 00:36:45,720 possibly linked to the suspect 628 00:36:45,789 --> 00:36:48,224 that reflects an anti-immigrant sentiment 629 00:36:48,292 --> 00:36:51,260 and mentions a "Hispanic invasion of Texas." 630 00:36:51,328 --> 00:36:54,230 [distant sirens wailing] 631 00:36:54,299 --> 00:36:58,195 ♪ ♪ 632 00:36:58,263 --> 00:37:00,602 - I remember being in the car with my sister 633 00:37:00,670 --> 00:37:03,038 as the news came in that day... 634 00:37:03,107 --> 00:37:05,441 ♪ ♪ 635 00:37:05,510 --> 00:37:07,009 The pit in my stomach 636 00:37:07,078 --> 00:37:09,344 as we realized that if she hadn't been driving me 637 00:37:09,413 --> 00:37:12,380 to the airport that morning... 638 00:37:12,449 --> 00:37:15,321 she would have been shopping at that Walmart. 639 00:37:17,087 --> 00:37:21,824 Together we tried to process what was happening-- 640 00:37:21,893 --> 00:37:23,993 one of the deadliest mass shootings 641 00:37:24,061 --> 00:37:25,965 in American history. 642 00:37:28,132 --> 00:37:32,935 The targets were Mexican and Mexican-American families 643 00:37:33,004 --> 00:37:34,770 like ours. 644 00:37:34,839 --> 00:37:41,813 ♪ ♪ 645 00:37:56,060 --> 00:37:58,227 [indistinct chatter] 646 00:37:58,296 --> 00:38:05,504 ♪ ♪ 647 00:38:24,884 --> 00:38:28,190 [indistinct chatter] 648 00:38:28,258 --> 00:38:31,460 - This is three years... 649 00:38:31,529 --> 00:38:35,401 three very difficult years for our community. 650 00:38:36,968 --> 00:38:40,536 We are being in the process of trying to heal 651 00:38:40,605 --> 00:38:42,574 what happened that day. 652 00:38:44,475 --> 00:38:48,044 But I think it's important to understand something. 653 00:38:48,112 --> 00:38:50,412 What happened that day 654 00:38:50,481 --> 00:38:54,416 was a racist terrorist attack 655 00:38:54,485 --> 00:38:58,220 motivated by white supremacy. 656 00:38:58,289 --> 00:39:00,355 I'm not the one saying it. 657 00:39:00,424 --> 00:39:03,192 It's the manifesto of the killer, 658 00:39:03,260 --> 00:39:04,560 of the terrorist. 659 00:39:04,629 --> 00:39:07,633 [indistinct chatter] 660 00:39:50,074 --> 00:39:52,941 [soft guitar music] 661 00:39:53,010 --> 00:40:00,019 ♪ ♪ 662 00:42:04,776 --> 00:42:07,876 [melancholy music] 663 00:42:07,945 --> 00:42:14,920 ♪ ♪ 664 00:42:19,757 --> 00:42:21,757 - What's it been like for you to come back 665 00:42:21,826 --> 00:42:23,826 and look at your hometown 666 00:42:23,895 --> 00:42:27,095 as a kind of disinterested professional? 667 00:42:27,164 --> 00:42:30,232 - [chuckles] That's a good way to put it. 668 00:42:30,301 --> 00:42:32,100 You know, I-- 669 00:42:32,169 --> 00:42:33,970 it just seems it's-- 670 00:42:34,038 --> 00:42:35,971 it's hard to be a Texan right now... 671 00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:38,007 - Yeah. - And to still, you know, 672 00:42:38,075 --> 00:42:41,076 firmly believe that this is your state. 673 00:42:41,145 --> 00:42:41,944 I don't know. 674 00:42:42,012 --> 00:42:44,380 - Basically, you know, there are things 675 00:42:44,448 --> 00:42:46,115 about Texas that are great, 676 00:42:46,184 --> 00:42:49,985 and that's one reason people come here. 677 00:42:50,054 --> 00:42:51,920 - Mm-hmm. 678 00:42:51,989 --> 00:42:54,289 - What's killing us is the culture war. 679 00:42:54,358 --> 00:42:57,860 And that is a totally unnecessary battle to have. 680 00:42:57,929 --> 00:43:01,896 - Where do you feel we need to go as a state? 681 00:43:01,965 --> 00:43:04,834 - The situation we have now is that people come over, 682 00:43:04,902 --> 00:43:07,135 they can't retain their dignity. 683 00:43:07,204 --> 00:43:08,938 You know, they're treated like criminals. 684 00:43:09,006 --> 00:43:12,575 And, you know, their motives for coming 685 00:43:12,644 --> 00:43:15,177 are often very noble and-- 686 00:43:15,246 --> 00:43:17,546 or, you know, perfectly understandable, 687 00:43:17,614 --> 00:43:19,681 fleeing violence and so on. - Yeah. 688 00:43:19,750 --> 00:43:21,618 - The further you get away from the border, 689 00:43:21,686 --> 00:43:23,218 the less you understand it. 690 00:43:23,287 --> 00:43:26,289 You know, I guess everybody thinks of the border 691 00:43:26,358 --> 00:43:28,023 being a line, 692 00:43:28,092 --> 00:43:30,225 the line being the river. - Yeah. 693 00:43:30,294 --> 00:43:34,162 - And it's not. It's a region and a culture. 694 00:43:34,231 --> 00:43:37,300 Even though we're not on the river right now, we're close. 695 00:43:37,369 --> 00:43:38,467 - Yeah. 696 00:43:38,535 --> 00:43:39,869 - But we're still on the border, 697 00:43:39,938 --> 00:43:40,836 and we'll still be on the border 698 00:43:40,905 --> 00:43:42,271 if we went over the mountain. 699 00:43:42,340 --> 00:43:43,572 It's all border. 700 00:43:43,641 --> 00:43:46,574 - Yeah, well, and the border itself-- 701 00:43:46,643 --> 00:43:49,312 the fence and what divides-- is man-made. 702 00:43:49,381 --> 00:43:50,816 - Yeah. 703 00:43:52,116 --> 00:43:55,187 [all chanting in native language] 704 00:44:01,959 --> 00:44:04,593 - But, you know, no matter how many fences 705 00:44:04,662 --> 00:44:08,000 they try to shut us in with, we're still here. 706 00:44:17,409 --> 00:44:20,379 [applause] 707 00:44:21,806 --> 00:44:24,580 - Let's talk about this place that we're in right now. 708 00:44:24,648 --> 00:44:28,050 You're attempting to make it a historic spot. 709 00:44:28,119 --> 00:44:29,919 - We want it 710 00:44:29,988 --> 00:44:33,923 to be a living historical center 711 00:44:33,992 --> 00:44:36,691 for people all over the world to come, like today. 712 00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:40,062 But we want it to be based on the real culture, 713 00:44:40,130 --> 00:44:41,764 the authentic culture. - Yeah. 714 00:44:41,833 --> 00:44:42,932 Going through downtown, 715 00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:44,867 you see a lot of empty storefronts. 716 00:44:44,936 --> 00:44:47,402 Building an arena might be something 717 00:44:47,471 --> 00:44:48,604 that would help the city. 718 00:44:48,672 --> 00:44:50,773 - But I don't think the kinds of jobs 719 00:44:50,842 --> 00:44:52,641 that will come from an arena-- 720 00:44:52,710 --> 00:44:55,144 you know, what, selling hot dogs in stands-- 721 00:44:55,212 --> 00:44:57,146 are the kinds of jobs that are gonna keep people here. 722 00:44:57,214 --> 00:44:59,281 I think they're gonna come here 723 00:44:59,349 --> 00:45:01,417 because we're creating 724 00:45:01,486 --> 00:45:03,752 a truly vibrant culture 725 00:45:03,821 --> 00:45:05,855 based on who we are. 726 00:45:05,923 --> 00:45:08,991 Our feet have been cut from underneath us. 727 00:45:09,060 --> 00:45:11,488 And we've always been trying to pretend 728 00:45:11,556 --> 00:45:13,162 we're something we're not... - Yeah. 729 00:45:13,230 --> 00:45:15,831 - Always trying to imitate somebody else's vision 730 00:45:15,900 --> 00:45:18,401 of what it means to be an American. 731 00:45:18,470 --> 00:45:21,203 [soft music] 732 00:45:21,272 --> 00:45:23,706 And the thing about the wall is beyond the politics. 733 00:45:23,775 --> 00:45:25,540 It's a barbed-wire fence. 734 00:45:25,609 --> 00:45:28,505 And the whole point is to, like, cut a barbed-wire fence 735 00:45:28,573 --> 00:45:30,679 right down the middle of your brain, 736 00:45:30,748 --> 00:45:34,883 to say, those people over there, us over here. 737 00:45:34,952 --> 00:45:37,953 That's horrible, you know, that division, 738 00:45:38,022 --> 00:45:39,855 that internal division. 739 00:45:39,924 --> 00:45:42,992 - [singing in native language] 740 00:45:43,061 --> 00:45:50,036 ♪ ♪ 741 00:46:05,617 --> 00:46:08,517 [light music] 742 00:46:08,586 --> 00:46:15,561 ♪ ♪ 743 00:46:31,475 --> 00:46:35,944 - Once a year, loved ones separated by the border 744 00:46:36,013 --> 00:46:39,315 are granted a fleeting moment to reunite. 745 00:46:39,384 --> 00:46:42,384 ♪ ♪ 746 00:46:42,452 --> 00:46:45,687 Here, in the middle of the Rio Grande, 747 00:46:45,756 --> 00:46:48,457 with the fence temporarily parted, 748 00:46:48,525 --> 00:46:52,194 Border Patrol heavily surveils the five-minute hugs 749 00:46:52,263 --> 00:46:53,762 of families. 750 00:46:53,831 --> 00:46:57,099 ♪ ♪ 751 00:46:57,167 --> 00:47:00,502 It is a surreal experience to witness, 752 00:47:00,571 --> 00:47:03,339 and I never quite know where to place it. 753 00:47:03,408 --> 00:47:06,943 ♪ ♪ 754 00:47:07,011 --> 00:47:08,878 - We started in 2016. 755 00:47:08,946 --> 00:47:11,446 At that time... 756 00:47:11,515 --> 00:47:14,483 we saw the consequences of mass deportation. 757 00:47:14,552 --> 00:47:17,787 Unfortunately, this has been an issue that is bipartisan. 758 00:47:17,856 --> 00:47:19,755 I mean, both parties are responsible 759 00:47:19,824 --> 00:47:21,758 of the separation of families. 760 00:47:21,826 --> 00:47:24,259 So we try to find a way to elevate 761 00:47:24,328 --> 00:47:27,663 the face of those families that were being destroyed 762 00:47:27,732 --> 00:47:29,165 by immigration policy. 763 00:47:29,233 --> 00:47:31,534 Children separated from their parents-- 764 00:47:31,603 --> 00:47:32,829 very dramatic. 765 00:47:32,897 --> 00:47:35,037 I mean, usually the parents are being deported, 766 00:47:35,106 --> 00:47:36,939 and the children are in the United States, 767 00:47:37,007 --> 00:47:38,240 and they cannot see each other, 768 00:47:38,309 --> 00:47:39,475 because either the children 769 00:47:39,543 --> 00:47:42,945 are in some kind of limbo status or no status, 770 00:47:43,014 --> 00:47:44,780 and the parents were deported, 771 00:47:44,849 --> 00:47:47,683 and they just can't come back. 772 00:47:47,751 --> 00:47:52,287 - Yeah, it was kind of, like, a shock once my parents left. 773 00:47:52,356 --> 00:47:54,824 We had to rely on each other a lot. 774 00:47:54,893 --> 00:47:56,592 - It's about to be five years in January 775 00:47:56,661 --> 00:47:59,028 the last time we saw them. 776 00:47:59,097 --> 00:48:00,996 And they took away their visa. 777 00:48:01,065 --> 00:48:02,397 And we're part of the DACA Program, 778 00:48:02,466 --> 00:48:04,834 the Dreamer Program, if you're not familiar with it. 779 00:48:04,902 --> 00:48:06,836 We're not allowed to cross to Mexico, 780 00:48:06,905 --> 00:48:08,070 and they're not allowed to come here. 781 00:48:08,138 --> 00:48:11,807 So we haven't seen them in that amount of time. 782 00:48:11,876 --> 00:48:13,509 So we decided to come to give it a try 783 00:48:13,577 --> 00:48:15,210 and, you know, at least for those five minutes 784 00:48:15,279 --> 00:48:17,516 being able to give them a hug. 785 00:48:18,850 --> 00:48:20,515 - I just didn't come 786 00:48:20,584 --> 00:48:22,452 'cause I felt like it was gonna leave a heaviness 787 00:48:22,521 --> 00:48:23,952 in my heart. 788 00:48:24,021 --> 00:48:25,521 It was gonna leave me with a lot of pain 789 00:48:25,589 --> 00:48:28,824 rather than, you know, a positive feeling. 790 00:48:28,893 --> 00:48:30,392 But today I realized that I come 791 00:48:30,461 --> 00:48:33,129 with a feeling of gratefulness to be able to do this. 792 00:48:33,197 --> 00:48:37,600 And, yeah, I just had to realize that with time. 793 00:48:37,669 --> 00:48:40,569 [melancholy music] 794 00:48:40,638 --> 00:48:47,613 ♪ ♪ 795 00:49:12,069 --> 00:49:13,402 - These two sisters 796 00:49:13,471 --> 00:49:16,805 are separated from their family indefinitely... 797 00:49:16,874 --> 00:49:19,475 a fate shared by so many here. 798 00:49:19,544 --> 00:49:25,047 ♪ ♪ 799 00:49:25,116 --> 00:49:26,581 I can't help but imagine 800 00:49:26,650 --> 00:49:28,918 what my own sister and I might have endured 801 00:49:28,987 --> 00:49:31,987 in this situation, and that leaves me numb. 802 00:49:32,056 --> 00:49:39,231 ♪ ♪ 803 00:49:45,002 --> 00:49:47,136 Hugs Not Walls may offer these families 804 00:49:47,205 --> 00:49:50,439 a fleeting embrace... 805 00:49:50,507 --> 00:49:52,842 but it also feels like I'm witnessing 806 00:49:52,910 --> 00:49:55,911 a spectacle of human pain 807 00:49:55,980 --> 00:49:58,514 in lieu of any real solution. 808 00:49:58,583 --> 00:50:05,557 ♪ ♪ 809 00:50:16,768 --> 00:50:19,105 You're a beautiful fish. 810 00:50:27,778 --> 00:50:28,814 - Mm-hmm. 811 00:50:49,266 --> 00:50:51,867 [uplifting guitar music] 812 00:50:51,936 --> 00:50:53,936 ♪ ♪ 813 00:50:54,005 --> 00:50:57,072 - El Paso, la frontera, 814 00:50:57,141 --> 00:50:59,641 my home. 815 00:50:59,710 --> 00:51:01,944 I've spent years trying to make sense 816 00:51:02,013 --> 00:51:05,214 of my identity here... 817 00:51:05,282 --> 00:51:09,251 the American daughter of Mexican immigrants 818 00:51:09,319 --> 00:51:12,887 who crossed the border before she was even born... 819 00:51:12,956 --> 00:51:17,893 a fronteriza trying to bridge both sides of a divide. 820 00:51:17,962 --> 00:51:25,171 ♪ ♪ 821 00:51:26,770 --> 00:51:30,806 This feeling that I could never quite put my finger on 822 00:51:30,875 --> 00:51:32,775 now brings me comfort. 823 00:51:32,844 --> 00:51:37,212 ♪ ♪ 824 00:51:37,281 --> 00:51:39,815 There's magic in the multiplicity 825 00:51:39,884 --> 00:51:41,717 that defines this region 826 00:51:41,785 --> 00:51:45,788 in being not one but many in the in-between. 827 00:51:45,857 --> 00:51:48,357 ♪ ♪ 828 00:51:48,426 --> 00:51:50,660 I didn't always have a word for it, 829 00:51:50,728 --> 00:51:53,495 but the Aztecs did. 830 00:51:53,564 --> 00:51:56,668 They called it "Nepantla." 831 00:54:03,728 --> 00:54:06,065 [bright tone]