The border between the United States and Mexico
spans 2,000 miles.
It's also the most frequently crossed land border
in the entire world.
And that just refers to legal crossings.
Hundreds of thousands
try to cross into the U.S. illegally every year.
Each person carries a story.
This is one of them.
I didn't know at the time that this story
was also mine.
Vamonos.
Adentro.
I just sent it. Did you get it?
Shouldn't you have a hot date or something right now?
A hot story, even better.
That senator is a closet lefty in a right-wing state,
and I am going to make damn sure everybody knows it
before voting her in again.
Charlie...
can you proofread this for me?
There are plenty of folks
waiting to get into our country the right way.
You like it?
I like it.
I think it deserves a special segment
on tomorrow night's broadcast.
Now I think you need to go home and have a glass of wine.
There are a couple of facts that need checked.
You don't have much time.
I want a quote from the other side.
- I'll get it done. - No quote, no story.
- Okay. - Fair and balanced, right?
I'm always fair.
Yeah, right.
And kind of balanced.
What's your stance on the vigilante situation?
Senator, do you support the expansion of the border fence with Mexico?
Securing the border is a matter of national security.
What about deploying the National Guard?
We need more resources, though, at our disposal.
Does that include local militants and armed minutemen?
These are brave, patriotic Americans
risking their lives in the desert to protect us.
- So, Senator... - Miss Talbert.
So you're in favor of the recent Arizona immigration law?
Of course I am.
My record against illegal immigration is clear.
Why, then, did you vote in favor of a bill
four years ago supporting amnesty
for these same illegals crossing into our country
every single day?
Miss Talbert, it's never quite that simple.
Senator, I also have you on tape
supporting a catch-and-release program.
But that, as I recall...
The very same program which allowed a criminal
illegal alien who was deported into Mexico
to cross back over our border into Arizona one month later.
Thank you, Senator.
Senator, how do you respond?
Come on.
- Aaron... - Vamos adentro.
Aaron, can you hear me?
It's Aaron.
Please leave me a message at the tone.
Damn. What are you doing?
Where's the... aw, come on.
- Bueno. - Hola. Do you speak English?
Yes.
I'm looking for Aaron Talbert.
Ls this Sharon Talbert?
Sharon Talbert...
was our mother.
She died two years ago.
This is Aaron's sister, Sofie Talbert.
Why are you looking for our mom?
I was trying to reach her
because she is the only contact that we have here.
He missed his check-in tonight.
Any of our guys in the field miss a check-in, we call contacts.
Just a safety precaution.
Have you heard from him?
Hello?
I tried calling him tonight, and...
when the phone answered, I heard a gunshot.
A gunshot?
Let's do something.
Let's give it a few hours before we get alarmed.
Just stay calm and call me back then
if you haven't heard from him, okay?
Asshole.
Okay.
I told you I cannot get ahold of him.
Look, you Americans,
you come down here to get away from family.
Your brother, he needs money.
Write a check.
Put it on his table.
And if nobody cashes it in a week,
you come back and we talk about him missing.
Taxi. Taxi.
Senor!
Aaron?
Roberto?
Okay.
Excuse me.
- Hola. - Roberto.
Okay.
Hasta luego.
- Si? - I'm Sofie Talbert.
- Yeah. You're Aaron's sister. - Aaron's sister, yes.
- We spoke on the phone. - Do you want a coffee?
L... yeah.
The police don't really care that Aaron's missing.
Technically your brother isn't missing yet.
Yeah, have you spoken to him since we talked on the phone?
Nope.
Anybody in here speak to him lately?
Well, he is missing, then. All right?
I want to go out to the address
where he was last seen.
Look, it's too dangerous to go there.
Does anybody know where Aaron Talbert was working?
I got it. I got it.
- You got it? - Come with me.
Yeah. Follow me.
Thank you.
First time in Mexico?
You're not as talkative as your brother?
So what's your story?
You want to save the world, like your brother?
What is it with you?
You provide relief to illegals, breaking American laws.
I'm very proud of that.
My mom almost died trying to cross to the US,
but somebody helped her, you know?
So that's what I do.
I help people.
What about you?
You have a husband? You have kids?
Not that I know of.
No, I've been busy.
What about your family?
Dad died when we were little,
so my mom had to work
and I took care of Aaron.
- This is it. - What?
This is where Aaron was last seen.
Do you want to check her out?
Yeah.
You shouldn't go that way.
Why not?
Jesus Christ.
- Shit! - Come on!
You okay?
Look what I found.
That's Aaron's hat.
- It's got blood on it. - That's blood.
Don't shoot!
We're fine.
They just want to scare you.
Come on. Come on.
We're fine. Don't shoot!
Buenas.
Hola. Do you speak English?
Who's this?
Do you know Aaron Talbert?
Not if I don't know who this is.
This is his sister.
I can't find him, and...
I'm trying to see if you might know where he is.
Not over the phone.
Come to Altar tonight.
Come alone. I'll find you.
L...
Hell... hello?
Hello?
Tell me about Altar.
- Altar? - Yeah.
It's a small town
full of migrants, thieves, and coyotes.
How do I get there?
You don't want to get there
unless you want to sneak across the border or get killed.
Look, you can either tell me how to get there
or I'm going to figure it out myself,
but I need to get there tonight.
Why do you wanna go there?
I talked to this guy on the phone
and he knows Aaron, and I need to meet him there.
It's too dangerous, believe me.
Look, if there's any possibility that I could find Aaron,
I need to go there now.
I want to be in Altar tonight,
so you can either take me to Altar
or I'll find someone else to take me.
Aaron, where are my migrants?
They're in Mexico,
they're in America, or they're dead.
So if he's out there
and if something's happened to him...
how long do we have to find him?
Somebody doesn't check in,
we only have 48 hours to find him.
Come on.
Why are we stopping?
Why? Because I'm hungry. Come on.
So you're drunk already? Okay.
No more soft drinks,
'cause when in Rome...
I drink wine.
Yeah, and we're not in Rome,
so we're going to drink tequila 'cause we're in Mexico.
And in Mexico we drink tequila.
- Cheers. - Cheers.
To finding Aaron.
Okay.
I want you to give me a good story about Aaron, okay,
a story I can blackmail him with when we find him,
'cause we're going to find him, okay?
'Cause there's something about Aaron that...
he always paint himself as an angel,
and I don't buy that, though, you know?
He's an angel.
Okay, so tell me a good story.
- Come on, shoot me one. - Okay.
The first time
that Aaron offered relief
to border crossers...
was to tadpoles.
Come on. What?
Tadpoles.
What do you mean? No, no.
Just tell me the complete story, please.
Okay, we were little kids and it was a really bad rainstorm.
And the next day I come downstairs
and there's Aaron,
and he's...
he's...
he's just scooping up all these tadpoles
and putting them back in this ditch.
One by one.
Okay, officially he's an angel.
But there's something that,
I mean, I don't understand.
If you two were that close,
why didn't you ever come to visit him here?
I guess we just...
got busy.
You know?
Okay, come on. Let's dance.
What?
Come on.
Hey!
Hey, what the...?
- Hey! Hey! - My bag!
Hey!
Shit.
Are you okay?
Yeah, I'm okay.
Here's what we're going to do.
We're going to find a motel to spend the night,
and tomorrow we'll figure out what to do, okay?
- No. - Let's go.
No, I need to go to Altar and find my brother.
Let's go. Take me. Take... we got to go now.
Let's go.
El Dia de Los Muertos.
This is the Day of the Dead.
It's a huge celebration here in Mexico.
Gracias.
Poor kid. He'll never make it.
- He's going to cross? - Of course.
Everybody here is trying to cross the border.
Well, coyotes doesn't like kids.
It's too much risk, you know?
Unless they're young girls.
They're worth a lot of money around here.
So, where exactly did he say he'd be?
Well, he didn't say, exactly.
Okay.
There's a lot of people, so let's do this.
I'm going to the mission.
It is around the corner.
I'm going to check if somebody has seen Aaron.
- Okay. - You stay here.
I'll be right back, okay? Don't go anywhere.
No, thanks.
Where did you get this?
Who gave this to you?
Who gave you this?
Hey! Kid!
Hey! Hey, wait! Hey!
Kid!
Kid! Kid!
Where you going?
No!
What are you doing?
Get off me.
Hey!
Hey.
My... my friend is coming and he'll be here any second.
Just take what you want and leave me alone, okay?
What is this? L... l...
I told you not to bring anyone.
What?
You're stubborn like your brother.
All right.
How do I know I can trust you?
- Look. - Okay.
How do you know Aaron?
We work together.
You're a relief worker?
Not exactly.
We help each other match migrants with coyotes.
So that's what you and Aaron do?
You take migrants over the border illegally?
You judge him plenty. You don't need to judge me, too.
Look, one thing I know about Aaron
is he doesn't do anything illegally.
Well, if there's one thing I know about you,
it's that you don't know your brother very well.
Do you have any idea where my brother is, really?
He was helping a group of migrants a couple of nights ago
with new coyotes, people he hadn't used before.
I haven't been able to reach him since.
Okay.
So we're going to go talk to these coyotes
- and find out... - Coyotes don't talk.
I'm going to do the run I have scheduled with them
and see if I find Aaron.
Okay, so I'm going to go with you.
White girls don't do runs.
So what the hell did you even meet with me for?
Look, if you're going to go look for my brother,
then I'm going to go with you, too.
If anyone asks,
you're a relief worker.
Don't ask questions and don't start conversations.
Follow my lead.
If I say, "Move," you move fast.
Okay.
If they think you're scared, you got a target on your back.
Just so you know,
if they find you...
you die.
Right now, you're dead.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
No one else knows about this, all right?
- All right. - Let's go.
There's a lot of money to be made.
Come on, let's go.
Documentos.
- Stay quiet. - Documentos.
You'll be all right.
They won't mess with you.
He's from El Salvador. He's illegal in our country.
You got to cross two borders to get to be illegal in yours.
They'll take what they want out of him and let him cross.
Hey! Hey!
Stay out of it.
- Leave him alone! - You'll make it worse.
What the hell?
Don't touch me.
I don't pay to get into my own country.
Hey, hey.
Hey.
Your politics may be closer to your brother's
than you want to admit.
Hey.
Let's go.
Hey, gringa, come here!
Come on.
All right, get in there.
Are you kidding me?
You want to find your brother?
It's the only way I know how.
Come on.
Scoot in there.
- Okay. - Come on.
Come on.
Juanita.
Hey.
Hey, enough.
Sounds like a hospital in here.
Suck on your inhaler, man.
Leave him alone.
You're stressing him out. You're making it worse.
I'm sorry.
You speak English?
Yeah. My boss promotes me if I can speak to the customers.
If you've got a job in America,
why didn't you just stay there?
I have to get back to El Salvador
to see my baby born.
How old are you?
I'm 23.
Why are we stopping?
Why aren't we crossing the border?
We're picking up a stash first.
Aaron would never have been involved in shit like this.
Well, he's not the same naive guy
that walked into the desert five years ago.
He helps people.
But in order to do that, sometimes we all need
to look the other way.
Gaspar! Luis!
Hey, vayanse. Let's go.
Hey, no matter what happens,
you stay hidden.
You understand?
Just stay here.
Whenever it's safe, I'll come and get you.
Stay.
Let's go. Vamonos.
Hey.
Stay here. Don't move.
Stay.
You want a free ride, bitch?
No.
Yes.
There are no free rides here.
- Everybody pays. - Okay.
Get out.
- Get out! - Okay.
Okay.
I can pay. I have money. I can pay you!
You hide a gringa in my truck?
Listen.
Your passport is worth nothing here...
Move.
Hola.
No. No.
Javier...
Aren't you a little young to be traveling by yourself?
These coyotes will get plenty of money for her on the street.
Somebody put her right on the birth control pill,
so if she gets raped,
it won't be so bad.
Can you help her?
Is she okay?
Feel it.
Come, feel it.
How far along are you?
Seven months.
This American baby will save us.
Why?
Because our baby is going to be American.
No.
- Hey. - They know who she is, okay?
- They know she's my sister. - I gotta get you out of here.
You understand? You gotta get her out of here.
- I gotta get you out of here. - You're not gonna be able to.
- There's not enough time. - Come on.
Listen to me, God damn it. Sit down.
Come here.
They're not gonna kill me, all right?
They're not gonna kill me
as long as they don't know where the migrants are,
but they will kill Sofie.
- So please... - She won't leave without you.
Tell her you didn't find me. You understand?
You did not find me.
- The talk is they're going to kill... - Don't make me watch her die.
I don't want to sit here and watch them kill her.
Now, will you just please get her home?
Go. Just go.
Just go. For the love of God, go.
- Okay. - Go.
No.
No, no.
No.
No. No.
It's okay. It's okay.
You all right?
- Let's go. - Where's Aaron?
- Let's go.
We got to get out of here.
We got to get out of here right now. Come on.
- What about everybody else? - They'll be all right.
Don't worry about them.
Yeah, come on, we got to get out of here.
Let's go.
Are you okay?
I don't want to talk about it.
So is this how you met Aaron,
taking people across the border?
No.
No, I was...
I was up north working as a line cook.
Finally made enough money to hook up my wife
with a coyote I thought I could trust.
She never showed up.
He just...
he just left them there alone in the desert.
What?
My wife Anna...
Anna didn't make it.
Your brother was the one that found them.
They were...
Yeah.
But Lucia...
Your brother...
your brother saved my daughter.
Where is she now?
She...
she lives with my sister
in a little town in Mexico, in Puebla.
But one day,
I'm going to bring her to America.
I'm going to give her an education,
a chance,
so she won't be just another kid selling Chiclets on the streets.
Look.
She's beautiful.
She has her mother's eyes.
She's got your smile.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Do you... do you have any kids?
Me? No.
Nah, I...
I just never...
I never had the time.
You should.
You should make the time.
Rico!
Don't!
Okay, let's go.
Ls that the United States?
- Yeah. - My God.
Come on! Come on.
- Okay. - Come on!
Follow me. I know another way.
Come here. Come on. Come. Come here. Come. Come.
Run!
We're going to make it. Let's go.
Come this way.
Follow me. Come on, hurry!
Okay. Let's go.
Yeah.
Move. Come on. Move fast.
Come on, let's go.
Let's go. Let's go.
Move. Move!
Run.
Come on.
Keep going!
Hey, how's it going?
- Yeah. - Move along. Come on.
Move forward.
You gotta to open up the trunk, please.
Hi there. Can I see your passport, please?
Shh, shh, shh, shh.
Shh, shh.
Forward, please.
Drive on. Just drive on. Keep it going. Keep it going.
Pull forward. Pull forward, please.
Pull forward. Okay.
No.
Hey! Hey!
- Stop the truck! Stop the truck! - Stop that truck!
Hey, stop the truck! Let me see your hands!
- Put your hands up! - Put your hands in the air!
Let me see your hands!
- Get out of the truck. - Put your hands in the air!
No!
No.
No. No.
My God.
Come on. Come on. Get up.
- U.S. Border Patrol! - Put your hands up!
Wait. No. No.
Drop the gun!
Hands over your head!
- Drop the gun! - No! No! No!
No, no, no, no! No, no. No, no. No.
- No. No. No. - Step away.
- Javier. Javier.
Lucia. Lucia.
- Lucia. - We'll get her. We'll get her.
Come on. Come on. Come on.
What did you do?! What did you do?!
- You're under arrest. - What did you do?
- Put your hands behind your back. - You are under arrest.
Ma'am, you're under arrest. Put your hands behind your back.
Javier.
What did you do?
I'm sorry.
No. No!
No!
No, no, no.
Maria! No!
No!
No! Maria!
No!
No! No!
Maria!
No!
Miss Talbert, now tell me again.
What is the reason you were in the desert
so close to the Mexican border?
Sightseeing.
Look...
you can't charge me for being in the Arizona desert.
I'm an American citizen.
I'm a TV reporter.
I know my rights.
Javier Guerrero...
he was not an American citizen, was he?
Miss Talbert,
was he or was he not an illegal alien?
It's not that simple.
I'm afraid it is that simple.
Our laws make it that simple.
Have you ever gone a minute down the road
and taken a look at what's going on?
Have you ever walked out the door
and gone over the border and looked at what's happening?
Because I have.
They're innocent people over there.
Have you seen the suffering that they're enduring
to have what we have,
what we just take for granted every single day?
You don't have to raise your voice, Miss Talbert.
I think there is a reason for me to raise my voice!
People are dying!
All right, look, let's start from the beginning.
How exactly did you meet this coyote?
Did you hear me?!
You don't have to get emotional, ma'am.
God damn it.
Okay, look,
I can't charge you with breaking any of our laws.
And I'm sorry for your suffering,
but we have rules and regulations
for immigrants to come into this country legally.
If you don't agree with our immigration laws,
then, well, I suggest you contact your senator.
Sign.
Luz.
Rafael.
Rafael. Rafael.
Where's Maria?
Where is she?
No, what?
Where is she?
No.
- Let's move. - No.
- Come on. - No.
Let's go.
Hey.
I'm just...
I'm so sorry.
I'm...
Come on.
You okay?
Here.
No.
You.
Walk.
- Aaron! - Hey, hey, hey, hey!
- Sof, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. - Aaron!
Aaron!
- Aaron. - You sit down, bitch.
No! Aaron!
Aaron, are you okay?
No, don't you fucking touch her!
Do something for this bitch.
I don't want the drugs to burst inside of her.
And especially I don't want to dig them out of her dead body.
- You filled me with drugs? - What?!
- You son of a bitch! - Shut the fuck up!
God damn you.
You filled everyone with drugs.
Yes, I fill you with drugs.
And if you're not careful,
you're going to end up like that woman and her baby.
That stupid baby
kept kicking and kicking,
and it smashed all the drugs inside of her stomach.
Killed them both.
Why?
Because the dogs can't smell the drugs
when they're inside of you.
Besides, the best drug mule
is the mule that doesn't know that she is a mule.
As you can attest, of course.
L...
I have to go to the bathroom.
They're here.
I'm going to tell them that we're going to get the stash back,
so you better keep an eye on these two, okay?
Let's move.
My God. My...
Got it.
- Go. We got to move. - Come on, come on.
Get the gun. Get the gun.
Come on.
Hey.
Come on, come on.
Come on. Come on.
Juanita.
Drop the gun. Drop it.
We got runners, southeast of the ranch.
- I can't. - Come on. Come on.
Come on!
God damn it, come on.
Come on. This way. Come on.
Come on. It's okay.
No, no, come on.
It's okay.
No. No, no.
No, no.
No. Come on.
- It's breaking. - My God.
Hold on. Hold on!
No, stay... stay with me.
I'm here. I'm here, honey.
I got you. My God, no.
Breathe! For God's sake, breathe!
My God!
Come on.
Jesus Christ!
You know you can't tell her.
I know.
They want you back in Mexico by morning.
You can have these back.
Thanks.
Hey.
I'm so sorry.
I'm sorry.
No.
- Yeah. - No.
Javier's daughter...
I need you to help me find her.
You got it.