Originally produced for Radio Netherlands and also aired on FSRN

An estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants live in the US. Many have arrived via a clandestine border crossing. The actual feat of crossing the border requires steady nerves and physical exertion. Many first-time crossers are not fully aware of what to expect. But would-be migrants and the curious can get a taste of what it’s like at an ecotourism park in Central Mexico.

[dewplayer:http://www.fsrn.org/audio/download/7278/20100806sy.mp3]

Visitors begin to congregate in a parking lot in El Alberto after sundown, chatting amongst themselves in small groups. At about 9pm, Ernesto Oliva stands on the flat bed of a pick up truck and calls out the names of the people who have signed up for a 5 hour walk.

(roll call)

Groups of ten jump into the beds of waiting pick up trucks which take us to a drop-off point by the side of the town’s church.

(truck takes off)

That’s where we meet our guide for the night, a man wearing a ski mask who never identifies himself by name. He’s going to try to get us across the border. Not the real U.S./Mexico border, but a fake one, part of a theme park in El Alberto, a small indigenous Hñañhú village in the Mexican state of Hidalgo.

ERNESTO OLIVA: “What we do is put on a show about what it’s like to cross the border. That way people who don’t plan on going there learn what it’s like…and those who do want to go learn that it’s not easy.”

The official population of El Alberto is around 22-hundred people, but townspeople say at least seventy percent of the population lives in the United States. But those who have left must return to put in one year stints of mandatory community service in order to retain their moral and land rights within the community. That’s the case with Ernesto Oliva, who left El Alberto as a 14 year old to search for work.

ERNESTO OLIVIA: “You’re told one year in advance when it’s your turn for community service so you can get your money together and make plans to return. Here in the town, we don’t earn a single cent for our work. Everyone there [in the US] knows when it’s their turn to put in work here. So, they come to perform their social service. After the year is up, they have to find another job. Many go back, others don’t, and some stay here.”

Mandatory community service is a custom in traditional indigenous villages throughout Mexico. Olivia’s service includes playing a Border Patrol agent in the nighttime border crossing simulation.

Olivia, who has crossed the border for real 4 times, says the simulation is fairly accurate, only less risky than the real thing.

(Guide begins speaking)

The guide begins by welcoming us and asking where we’re from, before putting the night walk into context.

GUIDE: “We’re not saying that to be a migrant is to be a hotshot. Quite the opposite. Why? Because a migrant suffers leaving behind country, family, roots and all those things.”

The opening discussion includes lighthearted jokes, serious reminders about the dangers real migrants face, insights into the local indigenous Hñañhú culture, and a lecture about team work. It ends with a group intonation of Mexico’s national anthem

(national anthem)

Within minutes, we’re running down a hillside in the total darkness.

(running sound)

[guide giving instructions in background – live narration in a whisper] “So, we’re getting instructions from the guide and we’re all crouched down on the side of the road. He’s telling us to…[guide barks order to run] We gotta run, we gotta run!” [group running sound]

[Sirens and Border Patrol loudspeaker with shots fired, more running, somewhat breathless narration] “We’re all hiding in a ravine now. It’s by a river. Oh man!” [Sliding down muddy ravine sound]

[River sound, whispered narration] “We’re now by the side of a river and I have mud up to above my ankles because we had to run through a field that was just full of ditches with mud and we’re waiting for the other people who were running behind us to catch up.

(hiking w/ whispered chatter)

After hiding for a long time in the river brush, having other close encounters with the “Border Patrol”, creeping through a pitch-black tunnel, and hiking up a steep canyon slope, our guide congratulates us, saying the walk is nearly over.

(guide speaking)

He tells us that while many of us have never walked in a similar situation before, that we’ve done a good job. In fact, the only people who were “caught” were actors from the town.

The exhausting walk ends around 2am.

(Roll tape Jose Antonio Rubio, I translate over)

University student Jose Antonio Rubio says his father migrated to the US ten years ago and would like to encourage Americans to come on the walk to see how difficult crossing the border is.

While the simulated border crossing doesn’t involve the more serious risks undertaken by real migrants, the experience does provide an insight that’s hard to come by in other way.

Shannon Young – FSRN – El Alberto, Mexico.