Better man the barricades, I'm coming in tonight
May 31, 2012 7:18 PM   Subscribe

EcoAlberto Park in El Alberto, Mexico, offers a unique experience: participating in an illegal border crossing. VICE Magazine filmed the trip.
posted by mattdidthat (9 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble



 
Meh, at Big Bend National Park it used to cost a dollar to have the guy row you across to Boquillas del Carmen, Coahuila, when the water was up, round trip.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 7:38 PM on May 31, 2012


"What the American Dream means to us, is that we can go over there, even if we struggle to cross that border, and find a good job, earn a little bit of money, save it, and come back to build a house or start a business" (19:40)

I wonder, is this typically the general idea? I'd guess yes, which makes me wonder if previous immigrant groups (that couldn't really do this as easily for logistical reasons) had the same mindset.
posted by Defenestrator at 7:53 PM on May 31, 2012


Despite all the 'Maxim' style fauxismo that Vice puts out, I'm really glad that they are around to do the shite that everyone else avoids. Hamilton is a gem, and even Shane Smith has his Einsten moments. If these guys were with the NYT I'd probably vouch for the printed news, saying it at least had a sniff of authenticity. If you're going to do newsErtainment, make it entertaining for godsake.
posted by isopraxis at 8:13 PM on May 31, 2012


Am I the only one who thought that they were taking US Citizens on an honest-to-God border crossing? That would be some serious daredevil type activity in the most perverse sort of way.
posted by unixrat at 8:29 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]


There are several reporters who have paid mules to smuggle them across the border to experience the process. It is scary, but it always makes an interesting story.

Most immigration is semi-circular. Many groups come, spend a season, go back. Or stay here for some time and then return home to retire. By building barricades we stop the normally circular process, and instead they stay here. By forcing them to stay on one side or the other, they choose to stay here, and we accumulate more immigrants than we would otherwise. This is all a part of why the system is broken, dangerously broken.
posted by Maztec at 8:52 PM on May 31, 2012 [4 favorites]


This is from years ago. Has this really never been linked here before?
posted by Forktine at 10:00 PM on May 31, 2012


I don't even like participating in legal border crossings anymore. They make you fill out a customs declaration, show your passport, wait in line. They riffle through your bags and ask you where you've been. The whole process takes way too long.

I can imagine a future where illegal border crossings aren't just for adventure tourists, but cater to ordinary tourists who just don't want to stand in a fucking line that long.
posted by twoleftfeet at 10:25 PM on May 31, 2012 [3 favorites]


For the record, and as the Vice link notes, this park is 800 miles south of the United States and what's on offer is a "simulated illegal border crossing" experience, not the real thing.
posted by donpedro at 1:49 PM on June 1, 2012


(Or yeah, furthering what unixrat said.)
posted by donpedro at 1:53 PM on June 1, 2012


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