Courtesy of ABC News
Making the journey to the United States and crossing the border is a daunting task, but for some families, it is their best or only option. Reyna's journey across the US-Mexico border in The Distance Between Us and many other families' journeys and statistics mentioned in the video, Tracking the Treacherous Journey Across the US-Mexico Border show that it is far from easy, but it must be done.
The video focuses on the various people who have attempted to or successfully crossed the Rio Grande, the river that marks the border between Mexico and Texas. These people must be willing to face very dangerous conditions including open sewage, debris, harsh currents, and harmful water inhabitants, not to mention the increasing number of broader patrol agents carrying menacing firearms. As one of the officers claimed, "the second they step out of their house, it is a very dangerous journey for them to cross." Crossing the Rio Grande would be a treacherous mission for any adult to take on, let alone a child, yet thousands of adults and children have survived the crossing, although, not everyone is so lucky.
In the video, Jorge Ramos and his crew decided to step in the shoes of the undocumented immigrants who attempt to cross the river. Under the supervision of several patrol officers, him and several crew members undertook the challenge of crossing the Rio Grande to its Mexican side and back. He then saw first-hand how difficult it was for immigrant families to sneak across the border in this manner. Ramos also interviewed a recent crosser in the video, a fifteen-year-old boy from Honduras. Back in Honduras, the boy and his friend were forced to join the gangs, but after refusing, his friend was killed. The boy knew then that it was not safe for him anymore, so he escaped from his violent hometown and worked his way up and over the border. The immigration attorney that Ramos spoke to explains that he still faces deportation and if that were to happen, he would most likely be killed.
In The Distance Between Us, Reyna's long-lost father returns from "El Otro Lado" to invite his children to cross the United States border and return with him. All three accepted, although didn’t know what they were getting themselves into. In their minds, all they could think about was the beautiful, safe place they knew as “El Otro Lado.” Their first and second attempts across the border were unsuccessful due to sickness, aches, and the fact that Reyna’s youth made it harder for her to keep up with her older sister, older brother, and father. She admitted that the journey was not easy. After all, that is the job of border patrol officers- to make it hard on undocumented, illegal immigrants who are attempting to cross their border. Even though Reyna and her family were able to cross the border, there were still many risks involved with staying in the United States as an undocumented immigrant. Like the boy in the Tracking the Treacherous Journey Across the US-Mexico Border video, there was a chance that they could be deported all the way back to Mexico. All of these risks, though, were worth it for them. The chance of having a better life was too big of an opportunity to pass up, even if the journey took a strong physical and emotional toll on all of them.
No journey across the United States border can be easy, which is proved by many stories, including Reyna’s in The Distance Between Us and those told in the video, Tracking the Treacherous Journey Across the US-Mexico Border.
No comments:
Post a Comment