1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:04,840 Speaker 1: Dear listener a content warning. The next few minutes are 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: of a nine to one one call with a person 3 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:10,960 Speaker 1: in distress. At about eleven thirty on a Monday morning 4 00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: in July of twenty twenty one, a woman in southern 5 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: Arizona calls nine to one one from her cell phone. 6 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 2: Lasanas. 7 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 3: She's loves her Vedencia. 8 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: She's in the Sonora Desert. She's all by herself, and 9 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: she's lost Mina. The woman is put on hold. That's 10 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: because she's a migrant crossing the border from Mexico to 11 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 1: the United States. Then the dispatcher follows protocol and transfers 12 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:52,880 Speaker 1: her call from the local sheriff's office in Pima County, 13 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: Arizona to the US Border Patrol. 14 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 4: Let's have a Mexican phone number. 15 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: She's begging the dispatcher to send help. Eventually she's found 16 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: and picked up by border patrol, but calls like this 17 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: happen all the time in southern Arizona. In some cases 18 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: like this, the lucky outcome actually is the caller being located, 19 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:32,319 Speaker 1: then detained by border patrol, and ultimately deported. But many 20 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 1: other times border crossers are never rescued by border patrol, 21 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,520 Speaker 1: and they succumb to the blistering heat in the Sonora Desert. 22 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: As of November of twenty twenty one, Humane Borders, a 23 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: local organization, has counted nearly four thousand people whose remains 24 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: have been recovered after dying trying to cross this vast 25 00:01:54,440 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: stretch of land. Many more have died have yet to 26 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: be found. From PRX and Futuro Media, It's Latino USA. 27 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 5: I'm Maria Josa Today. 28 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 1: Death by Policy at the Arizona Border a story by 29 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:22,399 Speaker 1: our new unit Futuro Investigates into how the United States 30 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: own policies are purposely leading to death. For over a year, 31 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 1: Fordudo Investigates has been digging into public information to understand 32 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: this crisis in the Arizona Desert. 33 00:02:51,040 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 6: Diam It's just passed for a m On a warm 34 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 6: Saturday morning in September of twenty twenty one, Latino USA 35 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 6: producers Julieta Martinelli and jess Albarenga have just arrived at 36 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 6: a tiny gas station in Ajo, Arizona, a small town 37 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 6: just minutes from the US Mexico border. 38 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: Over by one of the gas pumps, they meet a 39 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: man named Anghill. Anghill is originally from Mexico. He's in 40 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 1: his forties. He has a warm, shy smile, and well 41 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: he looks pretty tired. Boy CoFe Anghill is one of 42 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: the leaders of the Blue Armadillos Search and Rescue team. 43 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: There are a group of volunteers from southern California who 44 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: drive out into the Arizona Desert every month to search 45 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: for people who may have lost their way crossing the border. 46 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: In this region, it's known by Border Patrol as the 47 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: Tucson Sector. Today, Anghil drove to Ajo with eight other volunteers. 48 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:05,040 Speaker 1: They were all wearing matching royal blue long sleeved shirts. 49 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 3: Is there. 50 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 1: The Blue Armadillos are heading out to search for a 51 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: young man from Onduras who recently disappeared in the Sonoran Desert. 52 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 7: His name is johnnys Ok. Caria Ki says Johnny's family 53 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 7: called the Blue Armadillos after getting a phone call letting 54 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 7: them know that Johnny had been left behind in the desert. 55 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 1: They believe the caller was the guide that Johnny was 56 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,919 Speaker 1: crossing with. All he said was that Johnny couldn't keep walking. 57 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:57,280 Speaker 1: He then gave them a coordinate and hung up and 58 00:04:57,480 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: held taps a point on the map. 59 00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:00,240 Speaker 5: He he says. 60 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:04,720 Speaker 1: Today's goal is to make it here. He warns our 61 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:08,360 Speaker 1: team it's going to be a pretty tough weekend. Even 62 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:10,720 Speaker 1: though it's September. The heat is set to hit one 63 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 1: hundred and ten during the daytime. It'll be nearly thirty 64 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: miles round trip on foot through the desert with little 65 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 1: shade and only the water that they can carry on 66 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: their backs. Today's mission is on the Devil's Highway. The 67 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 1: Devil's Highway is a historic two hundred and fifty mile 68 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 1: road that passes through some of the most remote and 69 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: inhospitable terrain of the Sonoran Desert. While most of the 70 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:47,119 Speaker 1: Arizona border with Mexico is separated by the border wall, 71 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: this area is so expansive that the wall hasn't been 72 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:55,359 Speaker 1: built here. Because of the high heat and endlessness of 73 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 1: this vast terrain, border patrol is also less likely to 74 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 1: be put trolling deep in the desert, and that's why 75 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: so many people attempt to cross here. It's also why 76 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: so many die, many of them coming all the way 77 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:15,040 Speaker 1: from South America Venezuela, Cuba, and Colombia, rushing to cross 78 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: this open gap along the Yuma Arizona border. 79 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 3: After walking three thousand kilometers from Guatemala. 80 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: A migrant's journey ended in Arizona's desert. 81 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 2: Demand dies attempting to cross the southwest border as he 82 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:32,480 Speaker 2: tries seeking asylum in the US near San Luis, Arizona. 83 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: And that's why the Blue Armadillos keep on coming back. 84 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 8: Thank your man. 85 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 1: The Blue and Medillos have over thirty thousand followers on 86 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:01,919 Speaker 1: Facebook and nearly seventy thousand subscribe ers on YouTube. People 87 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: learn about their work through word of mouth and the 88 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: videos that they record and post after they finish their searches. 89 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: The Blue Armadillos say the number of people who reach 90 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: out asking for help to find their missing loved ones 91 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 1: is often just overwhelming. There are sometimes dozens of requests 92 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: every week, but they are less than a dozen volunteers. 93 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 5: With their group. 94 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 8: In Amiliata. 95 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 5: Gonzalo is one of those volunteers. 96 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: Gonzalo tells us that groups like theirs are often the 97 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: last and sometimes the only resort for desperate families who 98 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 1: say they've called border patrol, they've called the Mexican Consulate, 99 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: they've called the police, and they've gotten nowhere. 100 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 8: See yepus compidasa supai. 101 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 6: That's having on the start. 102 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 1: The reality is conditions on this stretch of the border 103 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 1: are so extreme that a person can die from heat 104 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:32,680 Speaker 1: exhaustion in just days or even hours. But Gonzalo says 105 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: it's important to go out and do the search anyway, 106 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:39,560 Speaker 1: even if only to help get a missing person's remains home. 107 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:45,239 Speaker 1: Sometimes it takes weeks from the moment the Blue Armadillos 108 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: get a call until they're able to travel from California 109 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:55,320 Speaker 1: to Arizona. They are entirely funded by donations. They have 110 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: an active GoFundMe and routinely do events like selling tamalis 111 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,960 Speaker 1: to gather up funds. 112 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:10,199 Speaker 7: Wedding Marc Let's say boy in Jesko I was. 113 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 1: There is no financial reward for volunteering to search for 114 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:20,720 Speaker 1: lost people in the desert. There is only the sun, 115 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 1: the sand, and the risk. Like the Blue Armadillos, a 116 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 1: handful of other rescue groups volunteer in this area. 117 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 5: They exist out. 118 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 1: Of necessity because so many people have died or disappeared 119 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: here and because so many continued to do so. Since 120 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:51,959 Speaker 1: the nineties, the Tucson sector has seen one of the 121 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 1: highest rates of migrant debts reported per year. Between two 122 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: thousand and two to twenty thirteen, the Tucson sector reported 123 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:06,840 Speaker 1: more deaths per year than any other place in the country. 124 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 5: Over the last few years. 125 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,439 Speaker 1: It's come in right under the Rio Grande Valley and 126 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:18,319 Speaker 1: Laredo in Texas. Just last year, two hundred and twenty 127 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 1: five remains were recovered here alone. But experts we spoke 128 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:27,040 Speaker 1: with say it's likely the death toll in the Sonora 129 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:32,040 Speaker 1: Desert is actually much higher, and that's because it's impossible 130 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 1: to know exactly how many more people might have died 131 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 1: here because the terrain is so vast and decomposition happens 132 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:50,400 Speaker 1: so quickly. To understand why and where the current humanitarian 133 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:54,439 Speaker 1: crisis started in Arizona, I went to meet with Reverend 134 00:10:54,600 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 1: John Fife. Reverend Fife, John thing is you know I've 135 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:05,040 Speaker 1: been reporting about you for so long. For decades, Reverend 136 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:08,080 Speaker 1: John Fife has been calling attention to deaths in the 137 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:13,640 Speaker 1: Sonoran Desert. I first interviewed Fife in the late nineteen eighties. 138 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: Fife's church, south Side Presbyterian in Tucson, was one of 139 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: the first to offer sanctuary to migrants and asylum seekers. 140 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 9: We had been helping refugees across the border and bringing 141 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 9: them here to the church. We thought very sacretically until 142 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:34,440 Speaker 9: one of the government lawyers of a political asylum hearing, 143 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:37,320 Speaker 9: talked to a lot of our lawyers and said, we 144 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 9: know what those guys are up to, tell them to 145 00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 9: stop it, or will indict them. 146 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:46,000 Speaker 1: Reverend Fife and his partners suddenly found themselves embroiled in 147 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:52,960 Speaker 1: a federal investigation, facing prosecution real prison time for felony crimes, 148 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:57,800 Speaker 1: including human smuggling. But Fife doubled down on speaking publicly 149 00:11:57,840 --> 00:11:59,800 Speaker 1: about what was happening in the desert. 150 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:06,000 Speaker 9: We built the sanctuary on the legal thesis that we 151 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 9: had not only a legal responsibility, but an ethical and 152 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 9: faith responsibility to protect refugees, and it was the government 153 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:18,559 Speaker 9: that was the criminal here. Then you can read it 154 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:24,680 Speaker 9: in their planning documents for their border enforcement strategy in 155 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:28,840 Speaker 9: the early nineties, particularly nineteen ninety three ninety four. 156 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:33,960 Speaker 1: Fife is referring to a document known as the Border 157 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:39,080 Speaker 1: Patrol Strategic Plan of nineteen ninety four and beyond. This 158 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,680 Speaker 1: was the birth of the border patrol policies known as 159 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 1: prevention through deterrence. 160 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 5: To make it really simple. 161 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 1: Early in his first term, President Bill Clinton faced bipartisan 162 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,800 Speaker 1: pressure to quote do something about the border. 163 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:00,600 Speaker 10: I signed a presidential director to the heads of all 164 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:05,520 Speaker 10: executive departments, instructing them to very quickly expand and strengthen 165 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,559 Speaker 10: our program to reduce illegal immigration in four key areas. 166 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:16,160 Speaker 1: He supported this policy of prevention through deterrens, which basically said, 167 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 1: as five put it, we. 168 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 9: Are actually planning that more people will die and using 169 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:28,200 Speaker 9: all those deaths and suffering in the desert as a 170 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:30,480 Speaker 9: deterrent to other people trying to cross. 171 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:35,160 Speaker 1: They did it by focusing resources and strengthening border patrol 172 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:39,679 Speaker 1: presence along most of the border, setting up roadblocks and 173 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:44,720 Speaker 1: making it much harder to cross elsewhere. This funneled people 174 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 1: to the most geographically dangerous areas like the Sonora Desert, 175 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: and that's how the number of deaths here just south 176 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 1: of Tucson almost immediately climbed from just a handful to 177 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:02,240 Speaker 1: more than one hundred per year. Though it began while 178 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: a Democrat was president, it remains a bipartisan effort. 179 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 11: We have a responsibility to enforce our laws. 180 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 5: We have a responsibility to secure our borders. 181 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 2: When I took office, I committed to fixing this broken 182 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 2: immigration system, and I began by doing what I could 183 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 2: to secure our borders. 184 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:24,160 Speaker 9: They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, their rapists, and some 185 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 9: I assume a good people. 186 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 1: Three decades later, the deaths and disappearances seemed to be 187 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:37,760 Speaker 1: seen as just a nuisance, a necessary side effect, one 188 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: the US government seems willing to accept under the guise 189 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:45,480 Speaker 1: of finding a so called cure to the issue of 190 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:52,760 Speaker 1: unauthorized migration. For what it's worth, Over the last decade, 191 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,960 Speaker 1: Border Patrol has in many ways tried to rebrand itself 192 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: as a search and rescue organization, highlighting their quote life 193 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 1: saving work in their recruitment ads and their news reports. 194 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:11,080 Speaker 12: The sanctity of human life is paramount, and we always 195 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 12: place that above all of the priorities in our day 196 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 12: to day duties and jobs that we do. I think 197 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:18,560 Speaker 12: it's important for the American people to know that the 198 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:21,600 Speaker 12: men and women of US Customs Border Protection are the 199 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 12: most humane law enforcement agency in the country. 200 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: At the same time, Border Patrol cites the number of 201 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 1: debts caused by their own deterrence to request budget increases 202 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:37,840 Speaker 1: from Congress each year that's led to more money, more tools, 203 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:45,200 Speaker 1: more agents. Today, the Border Patrol's budget is nearly five 204 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 1: billion dollars, and yet with all of that money, all 205 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: of that technology, all of those agents, the Blue Armadillos 206 00:15:55,000 --> 00:16:02,880 Speaker 1: still have to show up here twice a month. Coming 207 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:06,320 Speaker 1: up on Latino USA, we meet a woman whose mother 208 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: went missing in the late nineteen nineties when deterrent policies 209 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:13,880 Speaker 1: were just ramping up, and we learn more about the 210 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: ways the agency takes credit for desert rescues, all while 211 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:22,120 Speaker 1: volunteer groups take on the brunt of the most dangerous jobs. 212 00:16:22,960 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 1: Our report from Futuro Investigates continues. Stay with us, Yes, hey, 213 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:14,040 Speaker 1: we're back. Before the break, we reported about how the 214 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 1: border patrols own policies purposely funnel people hoping to cross 215 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:22,360 Speaker 1: into the United States through the deadliest terrain in the country, 216 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:26,439 Speaker 1: and we met the Blue Armadillos, a volunteer search and 217 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,280 Speaker 1: rescue group that's one of the only hopes for family 218 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:39,639 Speaker 1: members of the people who disappear on the border. We're 219 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 1: back with the Blue Armadillos in the Sonora Desert. While 220 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,199 Speaker 1: en route to start the long trek to look for 221 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:53,240 Speaker 1: the Honduran man named Johnny, the Blue Armadillos car suddenly 222 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:58,680 Speaker 1: screeches to a halt. A young man has popped out 223 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,320 Speaker 1: from some shrubs on the side of the road. He's 224 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:03,879 Speaker 1: waving his arms and he looks incredibly weak. 225 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:15,639 Speaker 13: Oh shita buena bian benitos, who's that? 226 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 5: Nacito Medico ask him if he knows where he is? 227 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:30,080 Speaker 1: No, the man can barely walk. He plops down on 228 00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 1: the floor by the car and then he closes his eyes. 229 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 13: Minando. 230 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:42,879 Speaker 1: We're not sharing his name for his own protection. But 231 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:48,160 Speaker 1: he says he's tired and hurt. He's from Sinaloa, Mexico, 232 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 1: and has been wandering in the desert for four days 233 00:18:51,520 --> 00:19:00,360 Speaker 1: without water. The Blue Armadillos spring into action. They give 234 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:04,840 Speaker 1: him clean water, a sandwich, and medication. After he's rested, 235 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:08,600 Speaker 1: they ask if he wants to continue walking. The Armadillos 236 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:12,760 Speaker 1: won't stop him, but their ability to help is severely limited. 237 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:16,560 Speaker 1: The Blue Medillos tell our producers they've been warned by 238 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:20,159 Speaker 1: border patrol that they can be charged with smuggling for 239 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: transporting a person. The only option they have is to 240 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:30,480 Speaker 1: let the man continue on his way, or to call 241 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: border patrol if he's too injured to walk. The problem 242 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:38,160 Speaker 1: is he will be detained if border patrol shows up. 243 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 7: I said, okaycut with. 244 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:52,639 Speaker 1: The young man says he can't keep walking. He says 245 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:56,720 Speaker 1: he's ready to go home. We wait until an agent 246 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:04,399 Speaker 1: shows up and takes him into custody and Johnny, the 247 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: Honduran man they were searching for. After two days and 248 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:12,600 Speaker 1: a night in the desert, our producers and the Armadillos 249 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: return empty handed. He's still yet to be found. Before 250 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:31,639 Speaker 1: the Blue Armadillos and other rescue groups like them emerged 251 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:36,080 Speaker 1: in the last decade or so, if someone disappeared crossing 252 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:40,879 Speaker 1: the desert, distraught family members had absolutely no one to 253 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:47,560 Speaker 1: turn to. Their only option was to just wait. Elena 254 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:56,160 Speaker 1: Gonsalez was one of them. In nineteen ninety seven, her mom, 255 00:20:56,760 --> 00:21:01,680 Speaker 1: Maria Ophelia Munos Palinsuela, packed her bags and left their 256 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:06,840 Speaker 1: small town of Ignacio de la jab in Vera, Cruz, Mexico. 257 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:13,760 Speaker 3: She was headed north Erna Persona Keya Miko, Nosida Leisi 258 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 3: and La Era Musiqura porque violes. 259 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:22,959 Speaker 1: Elena says her mom was beloved around town. She was 260 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:28,359 Speaker 1: super hard working, friendly, and oh so passionate about music. 261 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:35,400 Speaker 1: As happy as she seemed on the outside, things at 262 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:39,360 Speaker 1: home were turbulent. Elena's dad was an addict and violent. 263 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 1: Elena's mom was the only one that worked, and they 264 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 1: were always in a precarious financial position. 265 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 3: Mi mamasi lake luto mamasa Mi. 266 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,919 Speaker 1: Casa as in a lot of places in Latin America. 267 00:21:56,440 --> 00:22:02,359 Speaker 1: In Vera Cruz Aquin Sianerra or a fifteenth birthday celebration 268 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:05,920 Speaker 1: is an important rite of passage for a young woman. 269 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 1: But a few months before Elena's kin Senea, her dad 270 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,639 Speaker 1: said they had no money and she wouldn't be getting 271 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:13,320 Speaker 1: a celebration. 272 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:20,960 Speaker 3: Ela Mirijomi not yatoya said to Fiesta Fiesta, komonun cala 273 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:27,359 Speaker 3: vista and Pelo yah parstas on needles. 274 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:30,119 Speaker 1: Elena says her mom told her not to worry, that 275 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:32,439 Speaker 1: she would make sure that Elena would have a party 276 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:36,160 Speaker 1: like no one in the town had ever seen. Then, 277 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:38,720 Speaker 1: her mom said she was heading to the US to 278 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: work and send money home. 279 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:49,879 Speaker 3: Perro and Alfondo, Luis Somasrigistavo, Canzala del Maltrato, you know 280 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:52,440 Speaker 3: Conrad the correer. 281 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:57,080 Speaker 1: Elena says she knows deep down that the King Senira 282 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:01,240 Speaker 1: was just an excuse to leave. Her mom was desperate 283 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:06,280 Speaker 1: to escape her husband's abuse. At first, Elena's mom tried 284 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:10,000 Speaker 1: to cross through a known path in Texas, but she 285 00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 1: and her group that she was traveling with were detained 286 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 1: by Border Patrol. Elena's mom called from the detention center. 287 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:23,080 Speaker 1: She said she was going to try again. So Elena 288 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:29,480 Speaker 1: waited and waited and waited for her mom's next phone call, 289 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:40,880 Speaker 1: VIENI no no no. As months passed, Elena became more 290 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 1: and more desperate. She didn't know who to call or 291 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,600 Speaker 1: how to ask for someone to look for her mom. 292 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:54,920 Speaker 1: Elena wondered, how could her mother disappear. 293 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:58,439 Speaker 3: Just like that Ayak and missus Benanza Si. 294 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,760 Speaker 1: She began to lose hope that she'd ever know what 295 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:10,680 Speaker 1: happened to her mother. During the time that Elena's mom 296 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:14,720 Speaker 1: left Mexico in the late nineteen nineties until today, deaths 297 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:19,960 Speaker 1: on the border continue to increase, so has Border Patrols funding. 298 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:28,480 Speaker 1: Their current annual budget is about five billion dollars. For years, 299 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:32,200 Speaker 1: Border Patrol has touted the work of a special unit 300 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,200 Speaker 1: created more than three decades ago inside the Border Patrol. 301 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,720 Speaker 1: It's called the Border Patrol Search Trauma and Rescue Unit, 302 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:46,800 Speaker 1: or BORSTAR, and it's supposed to be dedicated to saving lives. 303 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:51,679 Speaker 1: But through a public records request we obtained we learned 304 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,040 Speaker 1: that Borstar's budget for fiscal year twenty twenty was a 305 00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:58,879 Speaker 1: bit more than two point two million dollars. That's just 306 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:03,360 Speaker 1: a tiny fraction of the multi billion dollar budget set 307 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:07,919 Speaker 1: aside for enforcing the same policies that are leading people 308 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:14,240 Speaker 1: to disappear and die in the desert. An Inspector General 309 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:19,359 Speaker 1: report in twenty sixteen found that the effectiveness and cost 310 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:27,639 Speaker 1: of groups such as Borstar are actually unknown. Many people 311 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,399 Speaker 1: we spoke to in Arizona say these deaths do not 312 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 1: need to happen in the first place, including someone who 313 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:48,320 Speaker 1: used to work inside the Border Patrol. In a dusty 314 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:53,320 Speaker 1: lot behind a cemetery with large gravestones and shady trees, 315 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:58,480 Speaker 1: I meet former Border Patrol agent Francisco Cantu. We're standing 316 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:02,520 Speaker 1: at a pauper's grave in Tucson, a burial site for 317 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:04,440 Speaker 1: those who couldn't afford a plot. 318 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:06,919 Speaker 2: You know, you wouldn't even know that there was anything 319 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:07,360 Speaker 2: over here. 320 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:11,920 Speaker 1: Gantu said he wanted to meet here because it's where 321 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:16,280 Speaker 1: unidentified migrants used to be laid to rest. It's a 322 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: place that makes him question a lot of years of 323 00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:24,800 Speaker 1: his life. Gandu worked for Border Patrol from two thousand 324 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 1: and eight to twenty twelve, including in the Tucson sector. 325 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 1: He later published a memoir about his time as an agent. 326 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,080 Speaker 1: He says he will never forget the first time he 327 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,159 Speaker 1: saw a dead person in the desert. 328 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:43,639 Speaker 2: I remember thinking, like, oh, like today's the day. Like 329 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 2: it took a while, Like it took me longer than 330 00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:49,160 Speaker 2: a lot of other people to see that first dead 331 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,320 Speaker 2: body in the desert. And there's stories that people tell about, 332 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:54,480 Speaker 2: you know, when you find your first dead body, like 333 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:58,320 Speaker 2: bring a canister of vis vapor rub with you, paparuf, 334 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:01,440 Speaker 2: and you put it under your nose so that you, 335 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:03,399 Speaker 2: you know, so that the smell doesn't get stuck in 336 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 2: your nose. 337 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 1: While he was an agent, Candu says, the notion of 338 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 1: encountering a dead person, it was just part of the job. 339 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:17,119 Speaker 2: Agents are always telling stories about this to normalize the 340 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:19,760 Speaker 2: fact that you're going to find a dead body while 341 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 2: you're walking through a desert. 342 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:27,240 Speaker 1: Gandhu says he now realizes this normalization of death was 343 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:32,320 Speaker 1: just part of the indoctrination that happens inside Border Patrol. 344 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,080 Speaker 2: From the moment that you show up at the Border 345 00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:39,119 Speaker 2: Patrol academy the whole time the rhetoric is of danger, 346 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:41,920 Speaker 2: of you know, the people who are crossing the border 347 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:45,119 Speaker 2: presenting a threat, and that the people who are crossing 348 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:49,640 Speaker 2: the border are criminal, whereas the vast majority of these 349 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:54,280 Speaker 2: people are refugees, right They're in a humanitarian crisis, They're 350 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:55,160 Speaker 2: seeking safety. 351 00:27:56,320 --> 00:28:01,800 Speaker 1: Candu says the indoctrination in the agency is almost necessary 352 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:05,600 Speaker 1: to do this type of work. And it's not lost 353 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,560 Speaker 1: on him that half of the border patrol are Latinos 354 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:10,680 Speaker 1: and Latinas. 355 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:14,639 Speaker 2: All of that serves to dehumanize the people who are 356 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:18,640 Speaker 2: coming across the border. And the fact that the only 357 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,200 Speaker 2: reason people are making this dangerous cross and the only 358 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 2: reason that people are out in the middle of the 359 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:25,680 Speaker 2: desert where they need to be rescued, you know, is 360 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,639 Speaker 2: because of the enforcement practices and because of the policies 361 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:31,920 Speaker 2: right like prevention through deterrence, we can push people out. 362 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:35,360 Speaker 2: If we lock down this area, people will cross over there. 363 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 2: I mean, I think we should be haunted by these. 364 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 1: People, those who die in the desert and who are 365 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:03,360 Speaker 1: found and up At the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office 366 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: in Tucson. Since the year two thousand, this office has 367 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 1: processed more than three thousand six hundred remains of people 368 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: believed to have died crossing the border into the United States. 369 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:27,520 Speaker 1: Because hundreds of new remains are recovered every year, and 370 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:32,760 Speaker 1: because most of them remain unidentified, the medical examiner's office 371 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:35,240 Speaker 1: has run out of space. 372 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:37,880 Speaker 8: You's got to let people have their thing. 373 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 1: Doctor Gregory has is the medical examiner right now. He 374 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 1: tells me most of the remains they find are stored 375 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:56,080 Speaker 1: in cardboard boxes inside an eighteen wheeler truck that's parked 376 00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:59,440 Speaker 1: right behind the building we're in right now. 377 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:02,280 Speaker 8: If it's close to a full set of skelter remains, 378 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:06,000 Speaker 8: it's basically one person in a box. If they're fragmented 379 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:08,920 Speaker 8: or partial skelter remains, we can put multiple sets or 380 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:09,840 Speaker 8: remains in a box. 381 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:13,960 Speaker 1: The problem is that most of the remains are never cleaned, 382 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: and that's because it can be really difficult to recover 383 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 1: DNA from skeletal remains and even harder to match them 384 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:25,440 Speaker 1: to family outside of the United States. 385 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 8: So this is a humorous or the bone from an 386 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,040 Speaker 8: upper arm. This end of the bone has been kind 387 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:36,320 Speaker 8: of chewed off by animal activity. So what are the 388 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:39,280 Speaker 8: odds of us identifying this person in a timely manner? Again, 389 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:39,920 Speaker 8: not very good. 390 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:48,960 Speaker 1: The Arizona Desert has become a de facto bone yard 391 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: for the United States. Just days or even hours after 392 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:58,560 Speaker 1: a person dies, their bones can be scattered miles and 393 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 1: miles apart by birds of prey or other animals. It 394 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:06,800 Speaker 1: often takes years for remains to be discovered. By the 395 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:11,920 Speaker 1: time they're found, bones are often completely bleached after so 396 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:14,560 Speaker 1: many years under the desert sun. 397 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:20,000 Speaker 8: This is going to be more complete. So these remains 398 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:21,360 Speaker 8: were recovered in twenty twenty. 399 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:25,840 Speaker 1: Goodness, and so, oh my goodness. 400 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 8: Yeah, so here we have quite a bit more. 401 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:30,600 Speaker 9: So. 402 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:33,400 Speaker 8: Here's some hair that was found with the remains. 403 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:34,120 Speaker 14: Here. 404 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 8: We don't keep a ton of property, but sometimes we'll 405 00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:40,160 Speaker 8: keep some distinctive property items of the remains. 406 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:46,560 Speaker 5: Oh my gosh, this is an sty water makeup pad. 407 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:52,480 Speaker 1: This person has also not been identified. Their bones and 408 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 1: their belongings are returned to a box inside the trailer 409 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,920 Speaker 1: in hopes that one day someone will come and claim them. 410 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,880 Speaker 1: As has been doing this job for more than a decade, 411 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:08,640 Speaker 1: he says, being a medical examiner here in Tucson is 412 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:11,920 Speaker 1: different from anywhere else in the country. 413 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:16,080 Speaker 8: This isn't really something that you can really take home. 414 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:19,280 Speaker 8: So now I don't spend a lot of time ruminating 415 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:23,480 Speaker 8: about it. If you did, then you probably wouldn't last 416 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 8: too long. 417 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:34,560 Speaker 1: In two thousand and five, nearly ten years after her 418 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:40,400 Speaker 1: mom's disappearance, Elena couldn't take the waiting and the guilt anymore. 419 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:45,280 Speaker 1: She decided she would cross the border herself and look 420 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 1: for her mom in the north. 421 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:53,480 Speaker 5: Mama no ka. 422 00:32:55,080 --> 00:33:02,080 Speaker 3: Persona is ya YadA Madri. 423 00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:12,560 Speaker 1: By then, deterrence policies had been in place for more 424 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 1: than a decade, and border deaths had already doubled. Elena 425 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:20,800 Speaker 1: was one of the lucky ones. She was able to 426 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:25,600 Speaker 1: successfully cross into Texas through the border city of Renosa, Mexico. 427 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:26,920 Speaker 5: With a guide. 428 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 1: She made it through the Rio Grande. Eventually, she settled 429 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:34,320 Speaker 1: down in New York, then in New Jersey, where she 430 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:39,560 Speaker 1: lives today, and she kept on searching online for her mom. 431 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:48,280 Speaker 3: Yosiine pre boscareles com, familiar Common Control, Personal Parida either 432 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:52,840 Speaker 3: Repente messalio Estaibri. 433 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:57,920 Speaker 1: One day she read about the Colibri Center for Human Rights. 434 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:03,720 Speaker 1: The nonprofit based in Tucson, Arizona, uses DNA to try 435 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:07,920 Speaker 1: and match families who have missing loved ones with unidentified 436 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:11,200 Speaker 1: remains like the ones we saw at the Pima County 437 00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:18,040 Speaker 1: Medical Examiner's office. In twenty sixteen, staff from Colibri came 438 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 1: to New York, where Elena was living at the time, 439 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:27,440 Speaker 1: in order to take Elena's DNA about two years past 440 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:36,800 Speaker 1: without any news. Colibri is a really small team. The 441 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 1: process of idine remains is labor intensive and expensive, but eventually, 442 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:48,040 Speaker 1: one day Elena got a call from Colibri while she 443 00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:50,000 Speaker 1: was on her way home from. 444 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:57,880 Speaker 3: Work Puamricola La Mina Lemente, josent Meleni and Sima maisel 445 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:03,680 Speaker 3: U c cont and Contrado and Webb Country, Texas for 446 00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:09,680 Speaker 3: Compa Yerra, La Senor and Mariophilia Manusualnezuela. 447 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:15,360 Speaker 1: Elena was told that the DNA she had submitted matched 448 00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:20,000 Speaker 1: with a skull that ended up in Webb County, Texas. 449 00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:27,080 Speaker 1: More than twenty years after her mother, Maria left Vera 450 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:31,480 Speaker 1: Cruz for the United States, Elena finally found out that 451 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:35,600 Speaker 1: her mom had died while crossing into the United States. 452 00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:57,480 Speaker 3: Was for Momento dio say this toyotop paras mismoson in. 453 00:35:57,520 --> 00:35:58,600 Speaker 5: This council. 454 00:36:03,239 --> 00:36:03,680 Speaker 3: Penshaw. 455 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:09,239 Speaker 1: The news destroyed any hope she had in finding her 456 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:14,000 Speaker 1: mom alive, but She says she was finally able to 457 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:19,359 Speaker 1: rest knowing that her mother hadn't abandoned her. The worst part, 458 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:24,120 Speaker 1: she says, was all these years of just not knowing. 459 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:35,520 Speaker 5: Coming up on Latino USA. 460 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:40,439 Speaker 1: I continue my decades long quest to find out why 461 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:44,400 Speaker 1: the thousands of deaths at the border have been normalized, 462 00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:47,240 Speaker 1: and I try to get an answer as to who's 463 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:52,319 Speaker 1: responsible for these needless debts that continue to happen. Stay 464 00:36:52,360 --> 00:37:46,360 Speaker 1: with us, Yes, we're back before the break. Elena finally 465 00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:50,320 Speaker 1: learned the truth about her mother's death and she was 466 00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:55,359 Speaker 1: reunited with her mom's remains more than two decades after 467 00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:58,240 Speaker 1: her mom attempted to cross the border into the United States. 468 00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:03,040 Speaker 1: And finally, we continue trying to seek answers from those 469 00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:10,840 Speaker 1: in power. Away there we go, and right now we 470 00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:16,800 Speaker 1: have just pulled into a very humble, humble little building. 471 00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:22,320 Speaker 1: It's very small. There's just dirt all around it, a 472 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:27,000 Speaker 1: cinder block and a chain link fence. We are at 473 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:31,920 Speaker 1: La Casa de la Speranza. It's the House of Hope. 474 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:37,800 Speaker 1: This is a shelter in Sasab, Mexico. This is just 475 00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:42,000 Speaker 1: a couple of steps away from a tiny US border 476 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:49,120 Speaker 1: crossing station. Dora Rodriguez helped open this shelter just last year. 477 00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:53,400 Speaker 1: It's about an hour and a half drive south from Tucson. 478 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:57,000 Speaker 1: That's where Dora has lived since she arrived in the US. 479 00:38:58,280 --> 00:39:03,080 Speaker 11: Welcome to Gata Speranza, Welcome to our beautiful place. 480 00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:03,920 Speaker 14: Thank you. 481 00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:08,720 Speaker 11: This is a centuary, literally centuary for our people. 482 00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:14,000 Speaker 1: The work is really personal for Dora. That's because in 483 00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:19,120 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty, when she was a teenager, Dora almost died 484 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:23,800 Speaker 1: crossing the Sonora Desert. She was fleeing from the civil 485 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:27,440 Speaker 1: war in El Salvador. There were twenty six people in 486 00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:33,200 Speaker 1: her group, and half of them died. Now she travels 487 00:39:33,239 --> 00:39:36,320 Speaker 1: to Mexico on the weekends to help cook meals and 488 00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:39,080 Speaker 1: to run this shelter breakfast. 489 00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:44,640 Speaker 11: I think it's our universal breakfast. Pinto beins, scramble eggs, 490 00:39:45,160 --> 00:39:47,360 Speaker 11: queso fresco, ya wakat. 491 00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:52,560 Speaker 1: Dora says they opened the shelter after border patrols started 492 00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:57,920 Speaker 1: dumping people here a small town with no resources. But 493 00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:00,400 Speaker 1: she says their work is just a bad date for 494 00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:05,240 Speaker 1: a much bigger problem. The intricate web of even newer 495 00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:10,719 Speaker 1: policies that coupled with prevention through deterrence have only increased 496 00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:13,360 Speaker 1: the risks for people crossing the border. 497 00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:18,239 Speaker 11: Everybody wants to take advantage of these people. Everyone want 498 00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:23,400 Speaker 11: to get their money, destroy them somehow, and then they 499 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:26,239 Speaker 11: get to our borders, and we receive them with the 500 00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:30,600 Speaker 11: same punishment. We receive them with hatreds We receive them 501 00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:36,680 Speaker 11: with this very sharp, strong policies that you cannot be 502 00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:41,040 Speaker 11: here asking for asylum or I cannot listen to your story. 503 00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:44,920 Speaker 1: Dora says, not a day goes by that someone doesn't 504 00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:50,000 Speaker 1: wander through their doors injured, exhausted, or looking for some 505 00:40:50,239 --> 00:41:03,760 Speaker 1: kind of help. In just eight hours, we watched nearly 506 00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:07,960 Speaker 1: a dozen people come to this shelter. Many of them 507 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:12,520 Speaker 1: could barely walk. They came in limping with injured and 508 00:41:12,719 --> 00:41:16,560 Speaker 1: blistered feet from the desert after being dropped off by 509 00:41:16,600 --> 00:41:17,400 Speaker 1: the border patrol. 510 00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:25,040 Speaker 14: Is The. 511 00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:34,840 Speaker 1: Chasing and separating people from the groups that they're traveling 512 00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:41,239 Speaker 1: with is a border patrol tactic, sometimes called dispersion or scattering. 513 00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:46,480 Speaker 1: Border patrol might pursue people, forcing them into rivers, over cliffs, 514 00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:52,200 Speaker 1: or even deeper into the desert. Sometimes this happens by air. 515 00:41:53,640 --> 00:41:56,800 Speaker 1: One young man we spoke to whose name wherewithholding to 516 00:41:56,880 --> 00:41:59,880 Speaker 1: protect his identity, said he was separated from his gro 517 00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:04,640 Speaker 1: in the Sonora Desert after a Border Patrol helicopter swooped 518 00:42:04,840 --> 00:42:08,040 Speaker 1: down over them. After losing his group, he says he 519 00:42:08,200 --> 00:42:12,320 Speaker 1: wandered alone for days, without water, food, or any idea 520 00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:15,600 Speaker 1: where he was going. Eventually he was found by Border 521 00:42:15,680 --> 00:42:23,200 Speaker 1: Patrol and dropped off here. Okay, he's wincing a lot. 522 00:42:25,160 --> 00:42:31,520 Speaker 1: He's got blisters on every single toe. At the shelter 523 00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:37,880 Speaker 1: of volunteer nurse punctures and disinfects the large blisters that 524 00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:41,840 Speaker 1: cover the base of his feet. She does the same 525 00:42:42,120 --> 00:42:47,200 Speaker 1: for several others here. All tell similar stories of days 526 00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:52,440 Speaker 1: wandering aimlessly in the desert, fearing they would die alone. 527 00:42:57,440 --> 00:43:01,680 Speaker 1: I wondered how many preventable deaths could actually be avoided 528 00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:05,760 Speaker 1: if the Border Patrol put humanity over policy. 529 00:43:14,880 --> 00:43:15,360 Speaker 4: Where are we? 530 00:43:15,719 --> 00:43:16,160 Speaker 12: What is this? 531 00:43:16,719 --> 00:43:19,800 Speaker 14: So we are at the bron Canyon rescue beacons. 532 00:43:20,719 --> 00:43:23,640 Speaker 1: When we told Border Patrol that we were working on 533 00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:27,239 Speaker 1: a story about debts in the desert, they told us 534 00:43:27,560 --> 00:43:30,880 Speaker 1: they wanted to show us a rescue beacon. 535 00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:34,920 Speaker 14: So this rescue beacon and the reason why this is 536 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:39,000 Speaker 14: here is to help anybody that's undistressed that can ask 537 00:43:39,080 --> 00:43:41,920 Speaker 14: for help. So you push that red button, it'll send 538 00:43:41,960 --> 00:43:44,560 Speaker 14: a signal to our office and then we can send 539 00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:47,160 Speaker 14: somebody to held that person and rescue them. 540 00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:53,680 Speaker 1: That's Border Patrol agent Jesu's Vasaville Baso. He is really 541 00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:58,680 Speaker 1: proud to show us this nearly thirty foot long white 542 00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:02,800 Speaker 1: pole in the middle of the desert. On top of 543 00:44:02,960 --> 00:44:07,800 Speaker 1: this very thin pole, there's a strobe light. Border Patrol 544 00:44:08,120 --> 00:44:13,320 Speaker 1: touts these beacons as an integral part and proof of 545 00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:18,960 Speaker 1: the agency's goal to protect migrant lives. They say that 546 00:44:19,239 --> 00:44:23,640 Speaker 1: lost migrants will see these beacons from a distance and 547 00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:27,239 Speaker 1: use them to call for help at the beacon. I 548 00:44:27,400 --> 00:44:32,480 Speaker 1: notice that there are no Border Patrol logos anywhere, just 549 00:44:32,680 --> 00:44:36,239 Speaker 1: a sign in English and in Spanish that directs a 550 00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:42,239 Speaker 1: person to press a button, and well that's it. Border 551 00:44:42,280 --> 00:44:45,920 Speaker 1: Patrol says, the beacons don't say Border Patrol, so is 552 00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:49,440 Speaker 1: not to dissuade people who need help from getting it. 553 00:44:50,160 --> 00:44:54,200 Speaker 5: But also, it's not like there's water here, you know 554 00:44:54,239 --> 00:44:56,080 Speaker 5: what I'm saying. It's not like you come here and 555 00:44:56,120 --> 00:44:56,960 Speaker 5: you're going to be saved. 556 00:44:57,680 --> 00:45:00,680 Speaker 14: Well you are, because you know when you push the button, 557 00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:02,560 Speaker 14: somebody's going to show up. Border Patrol is going to 558 00:45:02,600 --> 00:45:02,880 Speaker 14: show up. 559 00:45:02,920 --> 00:45:03,920 Speaker 2: But we have water with US. 560 00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:08,239 Speaker 1: It's not surprising to me that there is no water 561 00:45:08,840 --> 00:45:13,319 Speaker 1: or even first aid supplies anywhere near the beacons. While 562 00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:16,960 Speaker 1: activist groups like No More Deaths and Humane Borders have 563 00:45:17,120 --> 00:45:20,800 Speaker 1: set up permanent water stations in the desert and go 564 00:45:20,960 --> 00:45:25,880 Speaker 1: out weekly to refill containers, there have been numerous documented 565 00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:30,160 Speaker 1: reports of Border Patrol agents actually going into the desert 566 00:45:30,680 --> 00:45:37,000 Speaker 1: to empty those water containers. Agent Basil Baso insists the 567 00:45:37,160 --> 00:45:41,320 Speaker 1: beacons are not an enforcement tool, but he doesn't argue 568 00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:45,840 Speaker 1: that they do detain migrants who call for help after 569 00:45:46,239 --> 00:45:56,680 Speaker 1: rendering aid. According to public records, there have been about 570 00:45:56,920 --> 00:45:59,800 Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty rescue beacons put up on the 571 00:45:59,880 --> 00:46:05,480 Speaker 1: US Mexico border. Whether they actually save lives has been 572 00:46:05,760 --> 00:46:11,399 Speaker 1: much more difficult to gauge. Reports provided to US by 573 00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:17,960 Speaker 1: border patrols show thousands of beacon activations every year, so 574 00:46:18,200 --> 00:46:22,799 Speaker 1: we asked the Border Patrol to clarify do activations mean 575 00:46:23,280 --> 00:46:27,640 Speaker 1: the button was pressed by a person or do they 576 00:46:27,760 --> 00:46:31,920 Speaker 1: include motion sensor cameras equipped on the beacons, which can 577 00:46:32,320 --> 00:46:35,440 Speaker 1: easily be set off by the many wild animals that 578 00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:40,960 Speaker 1: live in this region. They did not give us an answer. 579 00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:45,640 Speaker 1: The documents that we also searched, failed to mention how 580 00:46:45,840 --> 00:46:51,560 Speaker 1: long the response time is after an activation, and yet 581 00:46:52,160 --> 00:46:57,960 Speaker 1: this year, Border Patrol requested and received another two million 582 00:46:58,040 --> 00:47:05,440 Speaker 1: dollars from Congress to purchase more beacons. Agent Vasavilbaso insists 583 00:47:05,800 --> 00:47:10,280 Speaker 1: the solution to desert deaths is even more funding. 584 00:47:13,040 --> 00:47:14,200 Speaker 5: So if the. 585 00:47:14,239 --> 00:47:17,719 Speaker 1: Border Patrol had more money and more agents in the 586 00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:21,480 Speaker 1: Tucson sector, do you think that would lead to preventing 587 00:47:21,719 --> 00:47:22,200 Speaker 1: more debts? 588 00:47:22,480 --> 00:47:23,040 Speaker 5: Absolutely? 589 00:47:23,680 --> 00:47:28,280 Speaker 14: I can guarantee you that if we make one hundred 590 00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:32,200 Speaker 14: percent apprehensions of one hundred percent of the people that cross, 591 00:47:32,239 --> 00:47:33,000 Speaker 14: and nobody would die. 592 00:47:35,719 --> 00:47:40,520 Speaker 1: In twenty twenty two, Congress approved a record breaking nearly 593 00:47:40,920 --> 00:47:45,840 Speaker 1: six point two billion dollars for an annual budget for 594 00:47:45,960 --> 00:47:52,160 Speaker 1: border patrol. That's a twenty six percent increase from twenty 595 00:47:52,239 --> 00:48:01,279 Speaker 1: twenty one. If money can save lives, I wonder how 596 00:48:01,719 --> 00:48:06,080 Speaker 1: with the largest law enforcement budget in the nation, border 597 00:48:06,120 --> 00:48:11,040 Speaker 1: Patrol can still take zero responsibilities for the deaths in 598 00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:19,080 Speaker 1: this desert. Over the last year, we tried to answer 599 00:48:19,320 --> 00:48:23,800 Speaker 1: that question. We filed open records requests with Border Patrol, 600 00:48:24,360 --> 00:48:28,279 Speaker 1: traveled to the border on numerous occasions, and requested sit 601 00:48:28,360 --> 00:48:32,120 Speaker 1: down interviews with officials, including the Chief Commissioner of the 602 00:48:32,200 --> 00:48:36,480 Speaker 1: Border Patrol, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Majorgas, 603 00:48:36,920 --> 00:48:43,440 Speaker 1: and President Joe Biden. The White House Press Office acknowledged 604 00:48:43,560 --> 00:48:47,560 Speaker 1: our request. They knew what our story was about, and 605 00:48:47,760 --> 00:48:50,399 Speaker 1: we communicated a number of times about it via phone 606 00:48:50,440 --> 00:48:53,719 Speaker 1: and email. After a few weeks of being told to 607 00:48:53,880 --> 00:48:58,000 Speaker 1: keep waiting for a response, we reached our deadline. 608 00:48:58,760 --> 00:49:00,200 Speaker 5: We could talk to the Press. 609 00:49:00,040 --> 00:49:05,480 Speaker 1: Secretary, but that would be it. I called producer Juliata 610 00:49:05,520 --> 00:49:07,279 Speaker 1: Martinelli to break the news. 611 00:49:08,560 --> 00:49:10,760 Speaker 3: Hello, Brieta, Hey Maria. 612 00:49:12,040 --> 00:49:14,640 Speaker 1: The more I thought about it, the more bothered I 613 00:49:14,719 --> 00:49:16,719 Speaker 1: felt by the fact that I'd only be allowed to 614 00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:21,400 Speaker 1: ask my questions to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre, 615 00:49:22,320 --> 00:49:23,400 Speaker 1: the daughter. 616 00:49:23,640 --> 00:49:26,960 Speaker 4: Of Haitian Americans. She and I are going to be 617 00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:30,759 Speaker 4: in conversation about this, like that's what we're reduced to. 618 00:49:31,200 --> 00:49:34,520 Speaker 11: I mean, there's no point in going if we're not 619 00:49:34,600 --> 00:49:36,080 Speaker 11: going to be able to speak to the president. 620 00:49:36,719 --> 00:49:40,000 Speaker 4: What we are trying to do is get answers and clarity. 621 00:49:40,640 --> 00:49:43,440 Speaker 4: And I think that it is a legitimate question to 622 00:49:43,640 --> 00:49:49,520 Speaker 4: ask who holds the Border Patrol and the United States 623 00:49:49,640 --> 00:49:53,080 Speaker 4: government writ large, who holds them accountable? 624 00:49:54,200 --> 00:49:58,239 Speaker 1: We decided to publish our piece anyway. The reality is 625 00:49:58,320 --> 00:50:01,520 Speaker 1: that there is not enough trans parcy when it comes 626 00:50:01,560 --> 00:50:05,439 Speaker 1: to Border Patrol funding, even when it continues to grow 627 00:50:05,760 --> 00:50:11,800 Speaker 1: at astronomical rates, funded of course, by our tax dollars. 628 00:50:12,880 --> 00:50:17,719 Speaker 1: Numerous mentions of funding for rescue efforts are cited in 629 00:50:17,880 --> 00:50:22,120 Speaker 1: the latest budget report. And yet, after following the work 630 00:50:22,200 --> 00:50:26,000 Speaker 1: of volunteer groups for months, our investigative team tried to 631 00:50:26,120 --> 00:50:30,240 Speaker 1: understand how many of the rescues credited to the Border 632 00:50:30,280 --> 00:50:36,279 Speaker 1: Patrol were actually done by outsiders. There's no public data 633 00:50:36,360 --> 00:50:40,640 Speaker 1: that breaks down those numbers. There is no mention that 634 00:50:40,880 --> 00:50:45,480 Speaker 1: a handful of volunteer groups like the Blue Armadillos are 635 00:50:45,640 --> 00:50:49,840 Speaker 1: helping to do the dangerous work of looking for people 636 00:50:50,120 --> 00:50:56,040 Speaker 1: in the desert. Before publishing this piece, Border Patrol admitted 637 00:50:56,120 --> 00:50:59,640 Speaker 1: over email that search and rescue groups are required to 638 00:50:59,760 --> 00:51:02,920 Speaker 1: call them when they rescue a lost person in the desert. 639 00:51:03,360 --> 00:51:07,399 Speaker 1: They also admitted that they record those rescues in their 640 00:51:07,560 --> 00:51:21,480 Speaker 1: reports as successful rescues performed by Border Patrol. Back in 641 00:51:21,680 --> 00:51:25,440 Speaker 1: New Jersey, Elena, the young woman who came to the 642 00:51:25,640 --> 00:51:29,880 Speaker 1: US in search of her missing mom, tells us she 643 00:51:30,000 --> 00:51:35,080 Speaker 1: has spent years in therapy, but since her mother's remains 644 00:51:35,120 --> 00:51:35,960 Speaker 1: were identified. 645 00:51:36,719 --> 00:51:40,279 Speaker 5: Now, she says she is finally starting to heal. 646 00:51:41,280 --> 00:52:03,000 Speaker 3: Yobibavita ira menawasoyaski yo seesano mimikrra son komoki disconsole. 647 00:52:04,040 --> 00:52:09,360 Speaker 1: Elena says she's found an unexpected source of strength, a 648 00:52:09,520 --> 00:52:15,000 Speaker 1: sense of usefulness. Now she's been volunteering with Colibri, the 649 00:52:15,120 --> 00:52:19,399 Speaker 1: same organization that helped her find her own mom's. 650 00:52:19,200 --> 00:52:27,120 Speaker 3: Remains in the Casa Forma de pos Aegos. 651 00:52:30,880 --> 00:52:34,880 Speaker 1: And Elena says she's learned that she shares her mom's 652 00:52:35,160 --> 00:52:40,120 Speaker 1: passion for music. On the weekends, now, Elena sings in 653 00:52:40,239 --> 00:52:43,880 Speaker 1: a banda with her husband. They perform at weddings and 654 00:52:44,040 --> 00:52:49,880 Speaker 1: quinsanea's and parties all across New Jersey. Often, before performing 655 00:52:50,000 --> 00:52:53,359 Speaker 1: in a show, Elena says she'll sit down in her 656 00:52:53,440 --> 00:52:57,359 Speaker 1: living room and speak with her mom. While the rest 657 00:52:57,440 --> 00:53:01,840 Speaker 1: of Elena's mother's remains were never found, her skull was 658 00:53:01,920 --> 00:53:06,319 Speaker 1: cremated and returned to Elena in a beautiful wooden urn. 659 00:53:07,200 --> 00:53:10,680 Speaker 1: Her mother's name is embossed in black letters on a 660 00:53:10,760 --> 00:53:11,600 Speaker 1: gold plaque. 661 00:53:12,640 --> 00:53:27,760 Speaker 3: Jaquie mbidas, kiss yeah, param and canste physicamente pro emi 662 00:53:27,840 --> 00:53:30,719 Speaker 3: corrazon parameastai pre. 663 00:53:32,719 --> 00:53:33,200 Speaker 5: Primero. 664 00:53:33,719 --> 00:53:37,960 Speaker 1: Elena shows us a video of a recent performance. Her 665 00:53:38,000 --> 00:53:41,960 Speaker 1: waist long, hair is curled, and she's wearing a gorgeous 666 00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:45,799 Speaker 1: set of boots. She says this is her favorite song 667 00:53:45,920 --> 00:53:52,480 Speaker 1: to perform, Guanda when a Lady Dies. It's by Jenny Rivera. 668 00:54:01,480 --> 00:54:04,880 Speaker 1: The lyrics go I was a strong warrior that fought 669 00:54:04,920 --> 00:54:08,919 Speaker 1: for her children. Remember that in life your mother never 670 00:54:09,360 --> 00:54:14,440 Speaker 1: backed down. Elena tears up a little. At the next part, 671 00:54:14,520 --> 00:54:17,439 Speaker 1: it says, I know that in the next life we'll 672 00:54:17,480 --> 00:54:22,280 Speaker 1: be together again. We'll laugh and enjoy all our triumphs. 673 00:54:23,520 --> 00:54:41,000 Speaker 1: Elena says her mom would have loved it. Arizona Death 674 00:54:41,120 --> 00:54:45,120 Speaker 1: by Policy is an original production by Futuu Investigates. This 675 00:54:45,360 --> 00:54:49,719 Speaker 1: episode was produced by senior producers Julietta Martinelli and Roxanne Scott. 676 00:54:50,160 --> 00:54:52,600 Speaker 1: The episode was edited by me jer Bon Shahi, with 677 00:54:52,760 --> 00:54:57,360 Speaker 1: deal production by jess Albarenga. Our associate producers are Oscar 678 00:54:57,480 --> 00:55:01,840 Speaker 1: de Leon, Roxanna Aguire, and so Fia Sanchez. Fact checking 679 00:55:01,920 --> 00:55:05,640 Speaker 1: by Ben Klin. Myself and Benni Le Ramirez are the 680 00:55:05,760 --> 00:55:11,160 Speaker 1: executive producers of Futuro Josa, the investigations and Special Projects 681 00:55:11,200 --> 00:55:15,160 Speaker 1: division of Futuro Media. Nancy Trujiro and ra Ubrees are 682 00:55:15,320 --> 00:55:18,919 Speaker 1: our project managers. Thanks to our partners at Border Hub 683 00:55:19,120 --> 00:55:23,200 Speaker 1: and to Fernandes Santos, our editorial director. This episode was 684 00:55:23,280 --> 00:55:27,040 Speaker 1: mixed by Stephanie Lebou and Julia Caruso. This reporting was 685 00:55:27,080 --> 00:55:29,880 Speaker 1: made possible with support from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, 686 00:55:30,280 --> 00:55:34,440 Speaker 1: the chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Hispanics in Philanthropy. Thank you 687 00:55:34,600 --> 00:55:37,879 Speaker 1: to the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona for their early 688 00:55:37,960 --> 00:55:41,239 Speaker 1: support of this work. To find more information about Arizona 689 00:55:41,360 --> 00:55:45,120 Speaker 1: death by Policy and read our article, please visit our 690 00:55:45,160 --> 00:55:50,759 Speaker 1: website Futuro Investigates dot org and remember Noe Mayes Chao. 691 00:55:55,280 --> 00:56:00,760 Speaker 3: Latino USA is made possible in part by WKO Foundation, 692 00:56:01,360 --> 00:56:05,880 Speaker 3: a partner with Communities where Children Come First, the 693 00:56:06,080 --> 00:56:10,640 Speaker 5: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Hispanics in Philanthropy,