Human Smuggling

Day 4 of the Borderlands Learning Tour.  Started the day with a vigil at the wall between Douglas (USA) and Agua Prieta (Mexico), then visited some graves on this Day of the Dead.  Next we crossed over to Mexico for a church service and lunch at a local families home.  The husband works in a maquiladora.

Late afternoon, back on the US side, we took an infrastructure tour of the wall.  Just as we neared the east end of the wall, where the barriers become the Normandy version, we heard/saw 6 people across the wall.  Three woman and a baby crossed thru the barriers in front of us.  The two males turned out to be "coyotes", ie, human smugglers - and the three women who they helped to/thru the wall were probably Roma.  They had no packs or water; the border patrol apprehended them immediately; had them remove their shoes and then gave them some water.   Overall they were treated with as much dignity as possible.  The women will in all likelihood plead asylum which will then put them into a legal process which could take months.

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