This sign is just to remind me of the time when I was here. It says “Frontera USA.” The border of the USA is right here. I thought it was interesting that I am here, the border with the USA is here, and there is an arrow pointing right here, where I am just now: this is where I am. And that is me standing right next to the arrow saying “to the US, go here, this way.”
And here it is morning.
Yes, this is after in the morning. So here the sun is warmer and you can see this is the very same picture as the one before, I went to the same place but it is with daylight.
Oh it is the same?
Yes, it is the same. I went to the same place and took another picture and it is of the same thing that I took at night then I took it with the day.
Oh that is very nice.
So you can see there the wall and the side of the U.S. All taken from the little window in the shelter.
All along the wall on the other side they have strong lights that illuminate everything. This picture is around midnight and they still have all those lights on, so it looks like daylight. That means we cannot cross at night because it is just as if it was during the day.
A todo lo largo del muro, al otro lado, tienen luces muy fuertes que iluminan todo. Esta foto es hacia media noche, y todavía tienen esas luces, así que parece que fuera de día. Eso quiere decir que no podemos cruzar de noche porque es como si fuera de día.
So you spend the night right next to the wall.
Yes, right next to the wall. Right across from the wall, that is where the shelter is.
So I ask myself what does it feel like? You want to get to Alabama, you left your home and you’re right here, right in the middle of your journey, right next to the wall. How does it feel?
And this one, this one is the wall from below. I’m almost at the shelter and took that other picture.
So that means you are sleeping right next to the wall?
What is most difficult is finding who to go with, who can be a trustable guide. Anybody can say, “Yes, I’ll take you.” But then they leave you stranded on the way or turn you in.
Lo que es más difícil es encontrar con quién ir, quién es un guía confiable. Cualquiera puede decir “Sí, yo te llevo”, pero después te dejan tirado en el camino o te entregan a la migra.
This is where I reached the wall. This was the first time I touched it.
I left home with the vision of getting to the U.S. and when I got to the wall I just wanted to cross it over and jump over right away and stop thinking that I was on this side. There is a border patrol car right there at about a hundred meters and they’re watching the whole time. But I felt really good to be there, I even said I’m going to take a picture of myself here by the wall and the desert is in the background.
So what is this one? Are these apartments?
No, that is the same. It is here you can see the wall and you can see the desert over here and you can see the apartments and this is in a high spot where I go to when going to the shelter so from that high spot I took this picture. This is very close to the shelter
It looks really hot and dangerous, and you can see there is also a border patrol truck parked there…
Parece muy caliente y peligroso, y se puede ver que hay un camión de la migra parqueado allí…
What do you fear of crossing over?
Oh, it’s really the thieves and the gangs. That’s what we’re afraid of. It’s not so much the cold or the heat, it’s the crooks, the thieves… because we can fight against nature, but to fight against the crooks and thieves is a lot more difficult. You can find water for the desert, but you can’t really do much when you have a band of crooks that comes on you with guns.
¿Qué te da miedo de cruzar?