El Norte: Dispatches from the US-Mexico border
The Rio Grande River, seen near Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Mexico. July 16, 2002.
Border for AR_0002
A man walks along and wipes down cars for money, on the main bridge between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico, to make a living July 21, 2002.
Border for AR_0003
A man walks a bicycle on the only hand-pulled ferry across the Rio Grande River which carries people and autos back and forth between Los Ebanos, Texas and Ciudad Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, Mexico. July 19, 2002.
Border for AR_0004
A highway sign warning of people crossing the road is a somber reminder of the journey people endure crossing illegally into the United States, seen along Hwy 905 in San Ysidro, California, August 1, 2002.
Border for AR_0005
A woman hurries along with a girl towards the U.S. Customs station en route to a destination in the United States, on the main bridge between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico. July 21, 2002.
Border for AR_0006
A woman sells snacks on the main bridge between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico, to make a living July 21, 2002.
Border for AR_0007
A busy storefront on E. San Ysidro Avenue on the U.S. side of the U.S./Tijuana Mexico border. July 31, 2002.
Border for AR_0008
A young man wipes down cars for money on the main bridge between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico, to make a living July 21, 2002.
Border for AR_0009
A view into Juarez, Mexico, seen from the US side of the border. El Paso, Texas. July, 21, 2002.
Border for AR_0010
A view into Juarez, Mexico, seen from the US side of the border. El Paso, Texas. July, 21, 2002.
Border for AR_0011
A woman shields her face from the hot sun as she walks along a street in downtown El Paso, Texas. July 21, 2002.
Border for AR_0012
Homer surf fishes on the Gulf of Mexico, off the shores near Boca Chica, Texas, July 16, 2002, which is the eastern most point of the U.S. / Mexico border and where the Rio Grande River meets the Gulf of Mexico over 1,200 miles away from it's origin in the Rio Grande National Forest in Colorado.
Border for AR_0013
A U.S. Border Patrol agent searches through an abandoned house along the border which is known to be a place where drug dealers enter from the basement of the house from a tunnel which runs from the Mexico side to the U.S. side of the border. Nogales, Arizona. July 25, 2002. There are hundreds of tunnels here in Nogales which are used for illegal alien and drug smuggling.
Border for AR_0014
A U.S. Border Patrol agent peers through a fence as he and other agents search for an illegal alien thought to be in the area along the border in downtown El Paso, Texas. July 22, 2002
Border for AR_0015
A U.S. Border Patrol agents search for an illegal alien thought to be in the area in downtown El Paso, Texas. July 22, 2002
Border for AR_0016
A U.S. Border Patrol agent checks the identification of people in a mini van returning from the Gulf Coast along this lonely stretch of Hwy. 4, near Boca Chica, Texas, which is the eastern most point of the U.S. Mexico border. July 16, 2002.
Border for AR_0017
A US Border Patrol agent questions one of three illegal aliens after a short chase into the dark Arizona desert. These men hopped the border wall and were chased into the darkness with help of one of the many infrared video cameras mounted on towers along the border. Douglas, Arizona. July 25, 2002.
Border for AR_0018
A US Border Patrol agent questions a small group illegal aliens after a short chase into the dark Arizona desert. These men hopped the border wall and were chased into the darkness with help of one of the many infrared video cameras mounted on towers along the border. Douglas, Arizona. July 25, 2002.
Border for AR_0019
USBP BORSTAR medics Rick Cardiel (left) and Scott Harper detain a woman on the Tohono O' Odham Nation reservation after receiving a report of a woman and child in distress. Instead they encountered and apprehended smuggler Jose De Jesus Villegas Alvarez, and three Brazilian nationals. Sells, Arizona. July 26, 2002.
Border for AR_0020
USBP BORSTAR medic Rick Cardiel questions a man a woman on the Tohono O' Odham Nation reservation after receiving a report of a woman and child in distress. Instead they encountered and apprehended smuggler or Jose De Jesus Villegas Alvarez, and three Brazilian nationals. Sells, Arizona. July 26, 2002.
Border for AR_0021
Three Brazilian nationals and their smuggler walk to a staging area after being detained by USBP BORSTAR medics on the Tohono O'Odham Nation reservation. Sells, Arizona. July 26, 2002.
Border for AR_0022
USBP BORSTAR medics Rick Cardiel (left) and Scott Harper question one of three Brazilian nationals and a smuggler they detained on the Tohono O' Odham Nation reservation after receiving a report of a woman and child in distress. Sells, Arizona. July 26, 2002.
Border for AR_0023
Three Brazilian nationals and their smuggler show passports while being questioned in a staging area after being detained by USBP BORSTAR medics on the Tohono O' Odham Nation reservation. Only one agent on the scene spoke fluent Brazilian Portuguese and was able to calm the three Brazilians down and tell them what was happening to them. Sells, Arizona. July 26, 2002.
Border for AR_0024
USBP BORSTAR medics question smuggler Jose De Jesus Villegas Alvarez after he was detained and arrested after bringing three Brazilian nationals illegally into the United States on the Tohono O'Odham Nation reservation. Sells, Arizona. July 26, 2002.
Border for AR_0025
Three Brazilian nationals wait to be questioned by USBP BORSTAR medics after being detained along with their smuggler on the Tohono O'Odham Nation reservation. Only one agent on the scene spoke Brazilian Portuguese and was able to calm the three Brazilians down and tell them what was happening to them. Sells, Arizona. July 26, 2002.
Border for AR_0026
A man peers through the border fence at Border Field State Park, the western most point of the U.S./Mexico border. Near San Diego, California. July 31, 2002.
Border for AR_0027
Members of the Vargas family here at Border Field State Park enjoy a lunch with their family in Plaza de Toros Monumental near Tijuana Mexico, as they are separated by the border wall near the western most point of the U.S./Mexico border, near San Diego, California. July 31, 2002.
Border for AR_0028
Members of the Vargas family here at Border Field State Park enjoy a lunch with their family in Plaza de Toros Monumental near Tijuana Mexico, as they are separated by the border wall near the western most point of the U.S./Mexico border, near San Diego, California. July 31, 2002.
Border for AR_0029
Members of the Vargas family here at Border Field State Park enjoy a lunch with their family in Plaza de Toros Monumental near Tijuana Mexico, as they are separated by the border wall near the western most point of the U.S./Mexico border, near San Diego, California. July 31, 2002.
Border for AR_0030
Seen through the openings of the border fence, a man runs in the sand on the Mexico side of border. Near San Diego, California. July 31, 2002.
Border for AR_0031
The border fence stretches out into the Pacific Ocean for several yards near San Diego, California. July 31, 2002. This is where the US/Mexico border begins on the west coast.
El Norte: Dispatches from the US-Mexico border
Photography by Rod Lamkey Jr.
There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me The sign was painted, said private property But on the back side it didn’t say nothin’ This land was made for you and me.
There, in the desert the dark storm clouds drifted across the jagged horizon. The July air was dry as a bone. On the hot ground, the rock and cactus, through the high thorny brush she sat silent, crouched low, her hair wild from the helicopter above, her brown eyes squinting in the desert light. Far from home and the paradise of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she and her two fellow countrymen tried to understand the Spanish-speaking US Border Patrol medics who found them in the desert of the Tohono O’Odham Nation reservation in Sells, Arizona.
With their tattered duffle bags and passports, talking fast and confused, the two border patrol medics could not understand them, until another agent sauntered over, tall, lanky in his ponytail and relaxed disposition, these three Brazilians heard the language of their homeland: Portuguese.
Their journey from Rio was long and took weeks. Along the way, the trio encountered many dire hardships: they had been robbed, beaten and at the time of their journey’s end on this patch of barren land, had not had food or water for two days. As a soft rain began to fall and the water dripped on their parched faces they looked to the sky in relief. Their smuggler was arrested and the Brazilians were offered water and shade before they began their journey back home.
The Rio Grand River begins in Colorado and winds it’s way south along the US-Mexico border, to Boca Chica, Texas and the Gulf of Mexico. It passes through barren no man’s land and the incredible beauty of ancient canyons. As the sun rises over the International Bridge in Laredo, Texas, Mexican truck drivers in their semi-trailer trucks wait for the gates at US Customs to open to bring goods into the US. Then it happens, the men race to their cabs and the horns are sounding to the tune of La Cucaracha! The smoke billows and the line of fire breathing monsters comes to life.
Over generations, millions of people have crossed that famous river, to escape a life of incredible and unspeakable hardship, in search of a better life in the United States. Many have died on the journey from far off places associated with paradise like Mexico and Brazil with their emerald waters, palm trees and tiki bars. Life on the border is rich and diverse, it’s not Latin American or North American: It’s both.
The roar of the surf and the hush of the wind carries the laughter of the Vargas family sharing a picnic in the grass, separated by the US-Mexico border fence. Family members on the US side and family members on the Mexico side share food, passing it through the holes in the fence which stretches out into the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean, it’s steel rusting from the ages.
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