They call them coyotes. For some they are nothing less than the pearly gates of heaven. Decent wages, medical care and more than anything, simple opportunity awaits those who slip through the hollowed entrance. But for the average Mexican this lies not in puffy white clouds, but in the barb wire hills strung across the hills of the southern United States.
California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas form a porous and enticing frontier to those with enough money and huevos. And the Coyotes are holding the keys. With a Suburban full of immigrants they trace the countless back roads, scratching for an opening.
Though many routes cross the border unguarded, the undertaking is not without peril. Sipping a coke on the coast of Honduras, a local described his ill fated attempt at the great escape. Saving up the 500 dollar (currently $2,000) payment required by the Coyotes he piled into a crowded Chevy with a dozen other hopefuls. With some skilled navigating and a healthy dose of luck, the precious cargo should taste the sacred ground of Southern California before sunrise. But hope turned to despair as the lights of an oncoming patrol truck flickered into view. Realizing the arrest and subsequent deportation awaiting them, despair and resignation hung heavily.
Suddenly gunshots cracked the stillness, slamming through doors and shattering windows on its violent course. Arrest was one thing, but a barrage of shotgun blasts ripping apart a carload of unarmed immigrants is a bit severe, even for the border patrol. The jagged scars peppering his arm and shoulder are a painful testament to his story. And though he escaped with his life, the driver was less lucky.
Who fired the shots will never be known, though armed vigilante ranchers have begun rounding up illegal immigrants. After recovering from the wounds in a San Diego hospital, the Immigration promptly had him deported. Perhaps even more incredible than surviving the attack is the fact that he returned to try again. This time successful.
Hundreds of thousands try each year to cross illegally. Problems because many Mexican communities are left without any able bodied men. But families could not survive without the income sent home across the border.