All language subtitles for Sue.Perkins.Along.the.US-Mexico.Border.S01E02.720p.WEBRip

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I'm in the Mexican city of Juarez. Juarez
has this sort of dangerous reputation.

You can't go out into the streets.

Look at it.

Families everywhere.

Party, food.

Downtown Juarez is buzzing.

This teeming metropolis marks
the halfway point of my journey

along the US-Mexico border.

I love you!

I love you too, but we did say
we'd settle out of court, right?

It's one of the most talked about
borders in the world...

We're going to build the wall,

and Mexico is going to pay
for the wall, believe me.

..but I want to find out what
day-to-day life is really like

on both sides of the divide.

Arriba... Arriba...

Abajo... ..abajo... ..abajo...

..al centro... ..al centro...

..y pa dentro.

..so I'm travelling 2,000 miles
from the Pacific Ocean

to the Gulf of Mexico.

If something happens to me
by chance, you hit this button...

That opens that up?
..that opens that up...

..and I just spray at will?
..just go to town. OK, will do.

I've seen how complex
modern-day realities are

in this part of the world.

They caught a half a million
people on our ranch in 30 years.

Just on your property?

Just on our ranch.

It's a place that provokes...

..and confounds.

Look at this wall.
It's steel and it's razor wire.

How many times do we have
to put these things up

before we realise
this is not the way?

On the second leg of my journey,

I want to see
what the future might hold,

and how people are tackling
the challenges that lie ahead...

Never...

..stop...

..dreaming.

Drea-ming.

..in vibrant cities,

and through spectacular
landscapes.

It's so brilliant to feel
this insignificant, isn't it?

..this is the story
of the borderland.

Once upon a time, there was a town
in Mexico called El Paso.

But at the end of the
Mexican-American War in 1848,

it was divided in two.

The northern side became
part of the US,

and the southern side became Juarez.

Spider Man has many superpowers.

I really hope he's developed the
ability to regulate body temperature

in an all-in-one nylon suit
in 90 degree heat.

Since 2008,

the city has been divided by
a 57-mile section of border wall.

Even so, thousands of people come
and go across this border every day,

inhabiting both worlds.

On the Mexican side today,
in the northern outskirts of Juarez,

is a training session

for a spectacle that strikes fear
into my bones.

This is escaramuza,

a kind of souped-up Mexican
dressage practised by women.

Horses. Weird, skittish things.

Rolling eyes.

Massive moustaches.

Measured in hands,
don't approach them from the front,

don't approach them from the rear.

I'm really frightened of horses.

And we're going to see some horses.

I've come to meet a group of riders
whose lives straddle the border.

Hi, how you doing? Good.

I'm Sue. Nice to see you.

They live on the American side,

but cross into Mexico several times
a week to train with their horses.

Hi! Oh!

Nice to see you.
Yeah, don't stand there!

Do you want a hand?
Do you need any help? Yes.

I can brush.
I'm good at manual labour.

You can start with that one.

Oh, what's this one called?

It's My Queen.

My Queen? Oh, OK.

Oh...

I'm really scared of you,
but it's OK.

Do they like being...

Ooh! I was too close to
the special area there, I think.

I think we can leave... I don't
think that needed a brush.

I don't know why I went there.
I don't know why I did that.

If there's one thing that scares me
more than horses,

it's a floral dress.

OK, so this is your dress.

Are you going to wear it?

Well, I wasn't expecting that,

but, er, yes, absolutely,
I'm going to wear that.

Absolutely. Yup. Really got stymied
there, won't lie, won't lie,

really got lured in.

I mean, I was born for this.

Escaramuza celebrates the female
soldiers, known as adelitas,

who went in to battle in the
American Revolution in the early
1900s,

and were key in overthrowing
the dictatorship government.

Fearsome and uncompromising.

Yep, that's me all over.

I look like I should be sitting atop
an enormous loo roll.

I've achieved peak doily.

All dressed up and somewhere to go,
we head to the stadium.

This is the closest I've ever got
to a feeling of nobility.

I'm a long way from Croydon
right now.

Oh, my word.

This is extraordinary.

It's like synchronised horsey-ing.

Escaramuza translates as
"skirmish", and I can see why.

Demonstrations involve
eight female riders

carrying out tightly choreographed
moves with little room for error.

Riding side-saddle, it's part
sporting event, part living history,

with national championships
taking part across Mexico

each and every year.

That was absolutely incredible.
Oh, thank you. Thank you!

You can see the horses sweating
but you guys looked perfect.

You look like supermodels.

It's unbelievable.

I want to ask about what you do
outside of the arena.

So what's life like off a horse?

I live in El Paso, Texas, but I
come across every day to practise,

and then I have my dad lives here
still, and my friends are here,

so for us, it's pretty common to
back and forth between Mexico

and the US, cos it's close together,
I mean, it's just the border.

And do you have dual citizenship?

I do, I am a dual citizen,

I'm Mexican and US citizen,
both of them.

So America is for work
and Mexico is for passion?

Exactly. I am from Mexico,
I'm, exactly, Mexican, 100%.

Like, our hearts belong to Mexico.

It's interesting, cos you see these
places are so distinct, you know,

so the United States and Mexico
and then the wall and...

But you guys, you just, your life
is completely between the two?

Exactly. It is. I mean, it wouldn't
be complete if we were not,

like, on both sides.

And for us, it's just, like,
natural.

I love both countries. I mean,
they're so different,

and I've lived here all my life
but I also studied over there, like,

all of my life,
so it's, like, I can't choose.

It's, like, I'm both,
I'm literally both of the countries,

both of the culture and everything.

Well, bearing in mind you said that
you think people are better

for being on horses,
do you want to help me?

If I put a helmet on,
would you help me get on a horse?

Of course. Yes. Let's do it.
Let's do it.

Time to confront my fears,

on a horse that's,
rather surprisingly,

called Kevin.

Opa!

Hola, Kevin.

And then you put this leg here.

This leg here? Yes.
Yes, you can do it.

Like that. Like that? Yes.

Kevin's on the move.

Kevin, don't go into a routine,
Kevin,

don't go into a routine.

Kevin?
Kevin, don't go into a routine.

Ah, Kevin. Kevin, Kevin.

Kevin. Kevin!

Kevin, where are we...

I just...

I just did a little 360 on Kev.

You're going about.

Whoa!

Unbelievable!

I'm not frightened of horses
any more.

There you go.

It's perfect.

He's beautiful,

and gentle.

These women are living proof that
people can take pride

in two identities,

in what both sides of the border
have to offer.

As professional women of means
with dual citizenship,

they get to enjoy the best
of two very different worlds.

But not everyone has the freedom
they have to come and go.

On the American side of the border,

I'm meeting a family going to
extraordinary lengths

to give their children
that simple right of free movement.

It's hard to imagine
we're actually in Texas.

It feels so Mexican, this place.

Hola. Hola!

This is Gabriela, who's been
bringing up her kids alone

here in El Paso because her husband
cannot legally reside in the States

and is stuck on the Mexican side.

Do you think he'll ever be able
to get settled status in the US,

or do you think...?

He will never have the chance
to become a US citizen.

It doesn't matter that we have three
US citizen children,

it doesn't matter
that my middle one was born

with a congenital heart disease,
it doesn't matter.

What does that
mean for your relationship,

for your marriage, for your love?
What does it do to that?

It's hard.

Can I ask...
I don't want to upset you at all.

No, it's OK, it's OK.

But I just... I suppose the question
that stupid people like me

would ask, would be,

why don't you then all go
and live together in Mexico?

Because my children are US citizens.

Abraham was born with this disease,
he is going to have heart surgeries

for life, so now I am putting
my own interests to the side.

If it was only for me, I would have
been in Juarez long time ago.

It's not only about me. I'm working
hard to put food on the table,

and these children could be
the next doctor, the next president,

the next engineer... Why not?
..that this country needs.

Do you want to be president?

Yes.

I'm going be president
when I grow up.

If I was a citizen,
I'd vote for you.

Thank you. And what would be the
first thing that you would do

if you were president?

I would take down the wall.

I know it's... I know it can be
something really hard to do.

It's just something...
I mean, I'm still a teenager,

and that's how I think.

I don't want that wall.

Despite being physically
separated,

Gabriela and her husband Adrian are
doing all they can

to keep their family together.

Every weekend, she takes the
children to the border,

so they can cross into Mexico
and be with their dad.

You're afraid?

I'm afraid of any officers
telling me that I can't go that far.

But it's terrible that you should
feel anxiety,

just walking along an American
sidewalk. Yes. It's horrible.

They make you feel like
you're a criminal,

like you did something so bad
that you deserve to be punished.

Adrian is waiting
just 300 metres away,

but Gabriela is not allowed
to cross the border

until her own immigration papers
are finalised.

See, I'm doing proper...

..shielding. I got you.

I got you.

They're not going to come for you.

In the last six years, she's spent
just 15 minutes with her husband.

Have a really good trip.
Enjoy your weekend.

Thanks. Enjoy your weekend.
Thank you.

Come on, I'm coming in.
Have a fun time. You too.

And so he'll be waiting
the other side?

Yes.

It feels weird being
so close to where my husband is,

and not being able
to just cross that.

I hope you have a happy outcome,

that's all I want for your love
story. Doesn't everybody?

Yes, of course...

I'm not talking to you, Siri!

Siri, gives this beautiful
Mexican woman

a Hollywood, sort of,
love story ending. Thank you.

Siri's had a meltdown. Yes!

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

This narrative is familiar to anyone
who's separated from their partner.

But you add this,
this hostile state apparatus,

you add armed border patrols,

you add invasive questioning,

you add the idea of being
criminalised

for simply wanting to go and see
a parent.

I don't know how she does it.

I do not know how
Gabriela does that,

because just being in this proximity
I'm going to bawl my eyes out,

and it's not my reality.

I catch up with the kids
on the Mexican side,

once they've meet up with their dad.

So this place feels very,
very different to El Paso.

Yeah.

I really like the culture. I feel
like I'm more Mexican than American.

I can see why you love it.

Yeah! It's nice.

Adrian was deported from America
after time in jail

for immigration offences.

If he tries to go back, he'll most
likely end up in prison again.

So, Adrian, how was your weekend?

And how do you feel, when it gets
time to go back across and...

I hate it, really.

Not being able to go back
with my dad,

together.

Now we're all going to go, so...

I don't really talk about it,

so it's hard.

But that's again awful,
because there is no...

There's no place for you
to talk about it,

and people so want to just think
there's the States,

and there's Mexico, they don't think
about the people who fall between,

who are on the borders,

or who have family on both sides
and who are permanently being torn,

and I'm really sorry that's you,
and I really hope it changes.

Mm-hm. I hope so, too.

Adrian and Gabriela think it
could be four years

before her status allows them
to see each other again.

However, their kids will
continue to come and go

as citizens of a single Tex-Mex
super city that straddles the wall.

It's my last day in Juarez,
and as morning breaks,

its citizen have found a rather
unique way of coming together

and expressing unity.

Now, there are many ways you can
approach this wall.

You can petition against it,
you can protest about it,

or you can do just what I'm doing,

which is a massive downward dog

right in its steely chops.

Dust off your harem pants,

this is border wall yoga.

What I'm hoping is that I can get
into quite a deep child's pose

and fall asleep for an hour
and no-one will notice.

That one's called
the burst appendix.

Unsurprisingly,
this isn't a normal yoga class.

The people here are from
both sides of the border.

Straight into the plank for me,
then.

They're gathering as one to try and
bring a sense of peace and harmony

to this contentious
18-foot-high fence.

What I'm going to do here is my
first border fart, I think.

Relax your body.

There's something
so incredibly profound about this...

..about allowing yourself to feel
peace and serenity

and the natural world, even
in the face of something man-made,

brutal,
and without getting too hippy,

there's a complete energetic shift
that's happened,

that we've all created.

Thank you very much.
We're very happy that you were here.

I'm very happy to be here.
It's beautiful.

OK? It was really beautiful.
You're welcome to Juarez always, OK?

Oh... The energy is really good,
huh? The energy is really good.

Really good.
Yeah, but it changes the place. Yes.

So you see this, and you, "Oh..."

and then you line up together

and you share, you hold each other

and you feel the peace and the calm.

Because we are one.

We are one. We are one.

Todos somos uno!

Todos somos uno.

Are we doing a Mexican wave?

Yeah, we're going to do it.

Hey, Mauricio?

Yes! I'm doing a
Mexican wave in Mexico!

You show... Come on.

You show an English girl
how it's done.

I mean, I'm always close to tears,
but I feel particularly so today,

because, you know,

I come from a place where people
look down on the Tube,

and avoid contact, avoid touching
one another, avoid engaging.

Then you come here
and people take your hand.

I have never, ever got over the
emotional explosion in my heart

when a stranger takes my hand.

It's a wonderful thing.

I love that.

If love and peace isn't your thing,

Juarez has something at the
other end of the scale to offer.

This is lucha libre,

freestyle wrestling.

Next to football,
it's the biggest sport in Mexico...

Mexico!

..and before I carry on my journey
eastward, I've got to check it out.

Oh, come on.

Come on.

This is the sort of thing the Pope
wears when he gets down and dirty.

Fight me.

This one's great because it's
really drawing up the double chin,

so what it's done is actually
given me a jawline

for the first time in a decade,
so I'm happy, I'm happy with this.

Lucha libre became popular
on TV in the 1950s.

Oh, this is great.

Doctor Wagner.

At the beginning,
it was dominated by men,

but it wasn't long before
women got in on the action.

Hola! Nice to see you. I'm Sue.

Lady Diamond. Lady Diamond,
it's nice to see you. Yes.

I have found my look.

Nice!
What do you think? Is it scary?

Yes! For all the wrong reasons,
right?

Tell me about Lady Diamond.

Is Lady Diamond a good,
is she a good human being?

I'm a baby face.

So what is baby face?

That I'm the good guy.

OK. So what is your big ambition?
What do you want to do in wrestling?

To be a legend, erm...

That is brilliant!

I want to be recognised with, erm,
the whole world, like, everywhere.

Lady Diamond is yet to hit
the big time in wrestling,

and still performs
in small, local venues,

but tonight,
there's a new wrestler in town...

..The Perkinator.

Sue likes crisps, and she knows
a bit about Jacobean tragedy

and Renaissance literature.

But The Perkinator,
that's different.

Now the mask is on,

I'm a stone-cold killer, baby.

Ow! Ow.

Lady Diamond has agreed
to show me the ropes.

Please get me out of here,
I'm terrified of her.

Right!

Yeah, I don't need that anyway,
because that's getting in the way.

Ow! Ooh, yep. OK.

So you break the arm
and then I get up? Good.

Both ways, it snaps.

Ooh! Si.

Ooh! You're going to go down.

Ow! Blargh!

OK?

Ooh!

I think she's got me
cos I wasn't expecting that.

Lady Diamond!

It's time for the main event.

Lady Diamond is the star attraction.

Woo! Yay!

Come on!

Lady Diamond's mum, Mrs Diamond.

Yay!

I'm Lady Diamond!

What she said!

I love that this feels like a
homespun, school hall version

of what you'd get
in the big stadiums,

and it's completely bonkers.

This is the most random thing
I've ever attended.

Yay!

Just when I thought
the fight was finished,

it turns out
it's only just beginning.

Whoa!

No, not the chair!

No!

Right, this is now developing
into a brawl.

I don't know where
entertainment ends

and just pure, unabated,
intergenerational violence begins,

but we're at that sweet spot.

Right. I'm going to go, before a
four-year-old kicks me in my groin.

I've left Juarez behind,

and I'm heading east, through Texas.

Surrounded by the Chihuahuan Desert,

this is where the borderland becomes
an arid,

almost never-ending wilderness.

This sort of landscape is the
landscape you'd see in a horror film

just before something
really bad happens.

You're travelling along this,
and there's a puncture,

and then stuff really kicks off.

It's so remote here,
the last thing you'd expect is...

..this.

No. No way.

Can we turn around?

Mm! That is so cold.

Ah!

It's so windy!

This might look like a designer
shoe shop next to a highway,

but it is, in fact,
a piece of modern art,

next to a highway,

constructed in 2005,

at a cost of $120,000.

So actually this is an art
installation,

which I can assume is a rather neat
statement about hyper-consumerism,

located in the middle of wilderness.

It's incredibly cool, actually,

but, like all art installations,
I'm going to look at it,

I'm going to appreciate it,

I'm going to try and really
contemplate the subtleties of it,

and then I'm going to cross the
road, get in the car and have a bun.

Eurgh!

I'm just going to die out here!

How ironic to die in front of a
thing mocking contemporary culture.

Oh, God!

The Prada installation is located
just outside of Marfa,

170 miles east of Juarez.

Everything's a bit alternative here.

There are certainly
no chain motels in this town.

I'm staying in a sort of
marooned desert houseboat.

This is the battleship.
Oh, I love the battleship!

It's got walls!
It has walls and it's quite warm.

Get in there. Get in there.

So, my first night in the desert,
complete.

Left-hand sleeper, just so you know.

Quite tidy.

Never touch the right-hand side,
there are rules.

Um, so, I woke up and I'd managed
to turn all the heating off,

so I woke up and
it was about minus ten,

and then, went over here and just
made myself a nice pot of drip
coffee.

And as I was doing that,
I looked at this dude again

and I just...

I kept looking
and I just thought...

..I mean, they never did
tell me who my father was.

Even though it's close
to the border,

Marfa is a world away from
the badlands of drugs and cartels.

It's a town built on creativity
and it's changed

what the borderlands mean
to people in these parts.

The town centre is full of
galleries and craft shops,

and you don't get much more
artisanal than handmade soap.

Hi. Hi, there.
Are you Ginger? I am.

I'm Sue, nice to see you.
Hi, Sue, it's so nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, how's it going?
Really good.

Is it always this cold outside?
Never this cold.

I mean, it's really... We got a snap
and so I apologise for the weather.

I'll tell you what is about to snap,
is all of my bones,

it's like I'm made of ice right now.

This is so wonderful, this place.
Welcome to the soap shop.

Come on back.

Like many people here, Ginger
washed her hands of her old life

and moved to Marfa
in search of a fresh start.

I moved here from New York City
and I thought,

"Oh, I need, like,
a small-town hobby,"

like, and I thought how quaint
to make soap, it would be so fun.

So, I'm going to let you
cut this one. Oh, dear.

There you go, now push it
through the wire. Now I understand.

Takes a while, doesn't it,
with me - just takes a while.

Oh, this all I want to do
for the rest of my life.

Oh, it's so soothing.

Oh, it's just...
Knife through butter, look at that.

I'm living in Marfa
from now on, forever!

So why did you leave NYC?

I wanted to get out of the city.

I'd gone through a big break-up
and I thought,

"I'll never date again."

That's horrid, isn't it?

And I moved here
and I met some of my best friends

and it's a great community.

Did you date again? I did.

It's a love story!
It doesn't get better than that.

I met somebody here. A love story
with intense personal hygiene! Yeah.

There's something about
the landscape here

and the vastness of it.

You've all got this pioneer spirit.
Does it feel like that in Marfa,

does it feel like people have
come to this wilderness space

to get away from things?

I like to say we all moved here
for a reason... Mm.

..and that's pretty much
kind of all you need to say.

To see just open space,
it gets in to your blood,

and you really can't do
without this landscape.

Having got a feel for soap-cutting,
Ginger decides - wrongly -

that I'm capable of
making a new batch.

So that's our coconut oil...

This involves melting together
coconut, olive and palm oils...

This is the palm oil,
and how much do we want of that? 60.

..and then -

just messing about.

What brave new world is this?

Isn't this great?
But you've not even...

Don't you use this in baking?

No! We stick an old-fashioned
sort of thermometer in there.

Oh, this is great. Try it. Oh.

Oh, God, I want to check...
Can I do it on me? Yeah.

It's 69.7. What am I? Measure me!

Perfect. 72.

87.

My mouth is, like, over ten degrees
hotter than my back.

The soaps are fragranced with local
products such as honey and herbs,

and then sold across America
for $12 a pop.

Night-night.

Like a moth to a flame
I was drawn to the sign.

I love this modern-day frontier town

full of pioneers staking a claim.

Cowboys side by side with
hipsters and creatives.

You are everything.

You're top cowboy to me.

Well, thank you, darling.
You're welcome, sweetheart.

Can I buy you a drink for that?
Yes, please. What would you like?

Anything you think is going to put
a smile on my face.

You want a beer and a shot? Why not!

It makes me wonder
what other distinct communities

are living along the border.

It's time to head deeper
into the great outdoors.

So I knew today that we were
driving in the wilderness.

You could see
the remoteness of this landscape.

So I thought, "I'll have
a really big breakfast."

And then I had another breakfast

and then I got them to make me
some sandwiches,

just because you never know...
And there's no stops here.

And...it's still morning,
and I've eaten everything.

There's still crisps in there,
though. Don't tell anyone.

We're driving 100 miles
south-east of Marfa,

towards a region known as Big Bend.

The Big Bend National Park
and State Park

cover more than one million acres.

For hundred of miles, the Rio Grande
- literally "big river" -

serves as
the international boundary.

There are no checkpoints,
no barbed wire.

The epic canyons provide
nature's version of the wall.

All right, Sue, are you ready
to go on the Rio? I certainly am.

And what better way to experience
life on the liquid border here

than canoeing down it
with Austin, a local river guide?

One, two and three, roll off.

Nice.

So just grab that handle
and we'll go to the river.

Do you know what? This is the first
time it's properly struck me that...

That's Mexico. ..that's Mexico.

Oh-ho, we're on the Rio. Happy days.

Let's do it. Cool.

Already I'm the happiest
I've ever been.

Oh, I love the Rio! Me, too!

This is about as close to perfection
as you're going to find...

Yeah. ..in this life.

We got the first big rapid.

Bring it on!

Do I paddle or not? No, you're good.

It does feel like you're travelling
through something properly ancient.

Right. You know, this was formed
millions of years ago

and has remained pretty much
untouched since then. Yeah.

It's genuinely one of those unspoilt
wildernesses, isn't it? Absolutely.

Talking of which, this is
an incredible canyon. Yeah.

So quiet.

It's so brilliant to feel
this insignificant, isn't it?

That's where the calm comes from,

just knowing you're just irrelevant
in nature.

Because of the inaccessible
landscape,

almost nobody tries to cross
the border here,

so most people think there's
no need for a man-made wall.

But with the wall being built
elsewhere in Texas,

this could change.

Webb County, just downstream
east of the Big Bend region,

they've just got it approved to have
a continuous wall in their county.

What's that going to do, will people
want to stop coming? Absolutely not.

They're going to bring them here.

People are going to start going
to the places that have no wall.

People are going to start seeing the
Big Bend as a way to traffic
through. Yeah.

This will become a pinch-point
for migrancy.

Austin's fear is that if migrants
get pushed to Big Bend,

demand will follow for
a wall to be built here too,

in this pristine wilderness.

It's my second day in Big Bend.

We really are in Texas, I promise.

I know it looks like
we're in a studio

and someone's let
a smoke machine off,

but I promise,
we have come all this way.

Today, I'm going on a hike
with park ranger Tom.

You're looking the full part
of ranger, if I may say. Well, how
do?

Welcome to Big Bend National Park.
Well, what a day we've picked for
it!

It's not every day you get to see
the inside of a cloud in West Texas.

I know.

What a great workplace, though.
Your office is incredible.

It's definitely a different type
of place to live

and it's a real special place. What
about groceries and schooling and...

So, groceries, most typically
we go to like, say, Alpine,

that's 100 miles away,

or Midland-Odessa,
that's about five hours away.

So, for a pint of milk, it's a
ten-hour round-trip.
Pretty much, yeah.

But the whole culture of the border,

along through
the wild, remote Big Bend

has traditionally been one of
essentially non-existent borders,

almost like a transparent border,
and people living on both sides.

In the early days of
this part of Texas,

you really needed
to depend on your neighbours

to survive out here
in this difficult place.

I'm hoping to see one of Tom's
famous neighbours today -

the black bear.

In the early 20th century, the bears
disappeared from the region,

after excessive hunting.

But they've since come back.

So, the park was established
in 1944.

There were no black bears here.
None.

And then, suddenly, like,
in the mid-1980s,

there was a big influx
in the sightings of bears.

Since 1989, we've had this resident
population of black bears here,

we think there's about 30.
A very healthy population.

And turns out, by studying the DNA,

we found that
they did come from Mexico,

they came from a population
in the big mountains in Mexico,

and we think that they're still
kind of going back and forth.

See, there's no borders for bears.
No.

But that's the story of
human migration too -

you go where the food is...
Isn't that incredible?

..where the work is, where the
happiness, the joy is. Yeah, right.

It's just, the bears are still
allowed to do it, I guess.

For now. Who knows? For now.

They depend on that ability to move,
and that ensures their survival.

Sadly, the bears seem to be
hiding from me today.

I shan't take it personally.

But there is something else
to look at.

Woo-wee, look at that!
Oh-ho! Hello. Nice.

Yes! Oh, look, we're above the mist.
Oh, yeah, that's cool.

That is cool.

It just taps in to a completely
calm, primitive part of you

that just wants to
just be in the moment.

No wonder the bears come up here.
They like the view.

As far as nature is concerned,
this is one unbroken landscape.

Building a wall here is unthinkable.

But down the river,
that's exactly what is in motion.

I'm driving to Mission, East Texas,

situated on the banks of
the Rio Grande.

The river is more accessible here,

and in the last year, there have
been over 150,000 illegal crossings.

Now, plans are under way to build
a new 55-mile section of wall.

President Trump's vision
is becoming a reality here.

But one local priest has made
headlines for publicly opposing it.

No trip to the border
would be complete

without a visit...to the priest.

I won't lie, there's
a certain amount of trepidation

because it has been
approximately 40-plus years

since my last confession so, boy,
does he have a lot to deal with!

Hi, there. Father Roy.

Welcome. Thank you, I'm Sue.
Good to see you.

Sue, nice to see you.
I appreciate you coming.

Estas en tu casa.
Make yourself at home.

This is Bendito, this is Charlotte,
they're our guardian angels,

four-legged guardian angels.

Good to see you. Good to see you,
nice to have you here.

What a stunning church.
A beautiful old place.

This historic chapel
was built in 1865

and the city of Mission
was named in honour of it.

According to plans, the new wall
will block off all access

for Father Roy's congregation.

You have the natural border,
the river,

which marks the boundary
between Mexico and the US.

You have the wall, so, your church

is right in the middle of
an enforcement zone. Yeah.

Who's going to be able
to come to the chapel?

Yeah, we'd be in a kind of
a no-man's land

and, of course, they tell us,
"Don't worry, it'll work out."

I hate to be cynical, I said,

"Well, but it's working out for
you, you have all the power,

"and how's it going to work out
for us?"

Father Roy's objections to the wall
have angered some people.

So, this is your boat? This is
our old boat, 50-year-old boat.

It's a beaut.

He wants to show me how
this contentious border

is affecting life on the river.

Off we go.
Yeah, there he goes, there he goes.

Look at it, isn't it beautiful?
Oh, yeah!

With so many migrants risking their
lives to cross the river here,

border patrol is a constant presence

making the place feel
a bit like a war zone.

Look at those guys.

That's a Texas Highway Patrol
gun boat.

There's four machinegun nests
on that boat. Yeah, I noticed.

Looks like a Vietnam boat, doesn't
it? It does. Looks like a gunship.

So you said earlier, there were some
local people who were angry with you

and they were going to... They're
not local. That's interesting.

They came from somewhere else,
to build a wall.

What? They're building
their own wall?

They're building their own wall
here.

It will just run up
along this one farm.

So is that on their land?
That's private land?

Yeah, this belongs to
a beautiful sugar cane farm.

See, now they're digging into the...
I don't know what they're doing.

Oh, they're actually doing it.

It's just some kind of - like
a vigilante wall group.

These diggers are being paid for by
We Build The Wall,

a right-wing organisation led by
former Trump advisor Steve Bannon,

that raises private funds
to build their own wall...

..because, apparently, the official
one isn't going up fast enough.

They're really tearing it up,
aren't they?

They've just eroded
a very important river bank

by scooping away
all the natural reeds.

And there's a lot of little wildlife
living up and down here that's going

to have to flee. I don't know
where they're going to go.

And it won't accomplish anything,

it really won't even protect
this beautiful farm

because you can just go
down to the east end

or go up to the west end of the
wall and walk around it.

Talk about disheartening.

I used to take the dogs
walking up in there all the time.

I guess you wouldn't be very welcome
there now. No, I guess not.

Better not try it again.

Do you feel threatened by them?
A little bit, yeah, a little bit.

That's not... Uneasy. Kind of...
The idea that...

You know, the pastor, the shepherd

likes to think that
his flock likes him.

Let's just experience the river
how it should be.

I say that... You can still hear
the Border Patrol helicopters

out there somewhere.

Sweet. If this is not sweet,
I don't know what is. That is sweet.

But the reality is
it's the opposite of that.

It's so contested
and it's a pollut...

It's an emotionally polluted river,
is what I'm going to say.

Yes, I had never heard
anybody say that,

but that's a good way to say it.

You might even say
spiritually polluted.

Spiritually polluted.

I have to say that I think
what I can smell is burnt dog.

There's a very strong...

I think Wigglet is cooked now.

I'll turn her over
because she's roasted one side.

You're too citified!

A helicopter,
a Border Patrol gunship,

the happy crusading priest,

and a bunch of vigilantes embarked
on an act of geological vandalism

in an effort to mimic
Trump's wall, on private land.

That's a snapshot of the border
right there.

Supporters of the wall
point to images like these -

tens of thousands of people
fleeing Central and South America

travelling through Mexico in the
hope of finding asylum in the US.

They find the border closed to them

and have to remain in Mexico,
in camps like this one in Matamoros,

while their cases are considered.

I've come to another church
in Mission,

to meet a group of volunteers

who are helping the migrants
in the camp.

Sue, how are you? Hi!
I'm a little busy, how are you?

Patricia. Patricia, nice to see you,
hi, everyone. How's it going?

This is my wonderful team.
This is the chain gang. Yes.

Can I help out? Absolutely.

We have a chair with
your name on it, I think. Perfect.

Cathy, there's a new kid in town!

So how many tacos
are we going to make today?

Between 900 and 1,000.
Between 900 and 1,000? Yes.

And so, why,
what motivates you to do it,

other than the goodness
of your hearts?

There are hungry people. There are.

And basically because we believe
that God has commanded us

to feed the hungry
and take care of the desolate.

But it's still not enough,

I mean, they're living
in horrible conditions

and no matter how much food
we bring, it's not enough.

That looks like a nice purse.

Yeah, I've got the comb,
got one in there...

These rucksacks are
for the children in the camp.

What blows my mind is that
the US and Mexican governments

provide almost no support
for the migrant camps.

It all falls on the shoulders
of well-meaning volunteers.

The soft toys are really
getting to me

because I remember what
it was like when I was a kid,

and how much comfort I found
in just something that was squishy

and I could press close to me.

And I came from a safe house,

where I had a roof over my head
and enough to eat.

So imagine, imagine how much joy

this could give somebody
who has nothing.

I am so over-invested
in each one of these rucksacks.

We meet up with more volunteers
at the border crossing,

and take the food and backpacks
over to Matamoros in Mexico.

And just the other side,
there's a car park, full of tents,

that's now home to
over 2,000 refugees,

whose chances of gaining asylum
and making it into America

are very slim indeed.

Then you just give one of these.

Hola! Que tal?

Salsa?

Oh!

Taco?

No? OK.

Thank you.

I've seen how the border
can bring out the worst in people.

But here, it's clear it can also
bring out the best.

Senor, senor...

Caballos? OK. Caballos.

You like My Little Pony?
Si? That is for you, then.

This is so pretty. Show me, show me?

Listen, this is important.

Never...stop...dreaming.

Never stop dreaming.

Drea-ming. Dreaming. Dreaming.

You sing? Canta?

It's so much easier
to just talk about migration

without experiencing it.

And all you need to do is
imagine one child

and populate your imagination
with her age, her eye colour,

her future aspirations.

And then you meet a child
and it makes it even more pertinent

and even more resonant

and even more important that
something is done

because that's just a baby.

That's just a baby who is as
brim-full with hope and passion

and optimism as I was,

it's just that geographical
happenstance made me fortunate

and made her unlucky,

and that's what's so heartbreaking,
the lottery of it all,

and that's what has to change.

It's surprising to see
how many people

have to come here
with their young children.

High five! Oh, ppfft!

Ooh! I'm as shocked as you are...

This family are fleeing
violent gangs in Honduras.

Tell me about your life in Honduras.

Did you have jobs, did you
have a house? What was life like?

Were you being bullied, were you
being pressured to join a gang?

So your choice is,
if you're sent back,

to either be killed
or to become a gang member?

Muerto. So lo muerto.

Many people think that migrants
just come for work, for money.

But you guys have left everything,
left good jobs,

left a lovely home, left your family

because you're eldest son made a
choice not to get involved in crime?

Since the US government introduced
the Remain in Mexico policy

the success rate of asylum seekers
from countries like Honduras

has dropped to below 1%.

The closer I get to this border,

the more I realise
this isn't about a wall

and it isn't about
the United States and Mexico,

it's about the bigger picture,
it's about the haves and have-nots.

It's about the developed,
complacent world

and the rapidly developing world

and the friction
between those two spaces.

And it asks bigger questions
than this border,

it asks questions like, how much is
enough? And - why won't you share?

And what is wrong with us that we
turn our backs when we see need?

After 2,000 miles
and three weeks on the road,

I've got one more day in Mexico...

..and I'm spending it
in the border town of Reynosa.

This is Danna Paola,
a local teenager who's preparing

for the most important night
of her life.

She's rehearsing the main dance
of her quinceanera,

a party to celebrate
her 15th birthday

and a huge tradition in Mexico.

Preparations for tonight's
celebration continue at home

under the watchful eye of
proud parents Victor and Karen.

Nice to see you.
Hi, how's it going? Hola!

Hello. Que tal? Bien, bien.

You look great. Gracias.

Where's Danna Paola? Over here.

Oh. Danna Princess!

Hola.

How are you? Hola. Buenas dias.
Hola. Nice to see you!

Nice to see you. Hi.

I'm hoping the eyebrows are going
to stay exactly like that.

You look great. Thanks.

This is your big day.

So do you have any idea
now you're sort of

entering the realm of adulthood,
what you want to do with your life?

I never had hair and make-up
at any of my birthday parties,

which makes me suspect that this do
is far from cheap.

Can I ask roughly
how much a quinceanera like this

would cost a family?

In pounds, £3,000 to £20,000.

When my wife told me
we were going to have a girl,

I started, you know what, the first
thing, it will be the quinceanera.

It's that important?
It is that important.

As the mother today, are you nervous
about what's happening?

You've managed to get her through

all that turbulent,
vulnerable period of her life.

You should be really proud.

This is a young Mexican with
all of her life ahead of her,

whose future is entirely in Mexico.

We have taught her to love Mexico
and to study here in Mexico

and work here in Mexico.

Oh, God, the tears are starting
again!

I've run out of tissues!

The news only tells you of
depravity and violence.

It doesn't tell you about
sweetness or joy or family.

The news tells you about the people
who want to leave Mexico,

but it doesn't tell you about all
the people who want to stay.

The quinceanera is a little like
the love child of a bat mitzvah

and debutante ball.

Just like a wedding, the father
gives his daughter away...

..not to another person,
but to the world.

I've just cried three times

but there's more on the way.

Watching Danna Paola
dance with her father,

I realise that the common link in
everything I've seen on my journey -

the good
and the bad -

has been family.

People doing their best
for the next generation,

whether that's protecting
what they already have

or providing them with greater
opportunities for the future.

In this divided part of the world

there's a lot
that people have in common.

What did I know
before I came to this place?

Well, I knew that the wall was
the most contentious structure,

pretty much, on the planet.

And then I walked along it,
and drove along it,

and got a boat along it,

and what I now understand is
the wall is a paradox.

The more you see it,

the less divided you understand
this place is.

This is one landmass.

It's one continent
carved up by colonialism and wars,

but its people, the social
geography, remains the same.

People reach out to one another.

They share values,
they share passions

because here,

beyond the headlines of pain and
suffering - which do exist -

there is also joy and fun

and a banging fiesta
that I now need to get to!

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