WEBVTT - James' Trip To The Darién Gap

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<v Speaker 1>All Zone Media, Hello and welcome. It could happened here

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<v Speaker 1>the podcast where I take.

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<v Speaker 2>An entire kindline, put it in my mouth at once,

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<v Speaker 2>and then try not to suffocate.

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<v Speaker 1>That's that's what's already happened. You missed that.

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<v Speaker 2>Maybe if you were a subscriber to Cooler Zone Media,

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<v Speaker 2>you would have been you wouldn't.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry, I'm not doing that, not doing them with FCC.

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<v Speaker 3>Note, Cooler Zone Media will not provide you access to

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<v Speaker 3>footage of games choking on a client far.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah that's sounding in a premium package. But we're not

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<v Speaker 2>here today to talk about snacks. Sadly that will get

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<v Speaker 2>another podcast. We are here today to talk about my

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<v Speaker 2>recent trip to the daddy En Gap in Panama. So

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<v Speaker 2>I guess to start off with we should probably explain,

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<v Speaker 2>like do you think me or I need to explain

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<v Speaker 2>like where it.

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<v Speaker 3>Is and what look I I went to school with

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<v Speaker 3>a kid who actually this happened multiple times the more

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<v Speaker 3>I know, I'm thinking back on it, like people who

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<v Speaker 3>thought that the Arabian Peninsula was in Mexico, So like,

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<v Speaker 3>in fact, you need to explain this.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, wow, yeah, okay, I'm just imagining that what got

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<v Speaker 2>it mixed up, mixed up with the Yucatan.

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<v Speaker 3>It was really sort of oh wow, incredible stuff happening

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<v Speaker 3>in by schools.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, fascinating. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, So for those of you who are not familiar,

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<v Speaker 2>the Dadian Gap is an area between Colombia and Panama

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<v Speaker 2>that has historically, like I've seen a lot of characterizations

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<v Speaker 2>of this which I think erased the existence to indigenous people,

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<v Speaker 2>which shouldn't be shocking given the corporate media, right. But yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>people have lived in this area for thousands of years.

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<v Speaker 1>They have happy and fulfilled lives. They thrive.

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<v Speaker 2>There is no desolate place. It's just a place that

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<v Speaker 2>hasn't made itself amenable to capitalism. Really, it's a place

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<v Speaker 2>between Colombia and Panama where there are no roads, there

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<v Speaker 2>are not navigable rivers. It is extremely mountainous. It's one

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<v Speaker 2>of the most humid places on Earth. It is covered

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<v Speaker 2>in incredibly dense jungle. There are fast flowing rivers which

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<v Speaker 2>you have to cross as you travel there. And for

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<v Speaker 2>about half a million migrants last year, it was the

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<v Speaker 2>only way that they could come from South America to

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<v Speaker 2>Central America and they continue their journey on to North America.

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<v Speaker 3>From a minder saying like, this isn't just people like

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<v Speaker 3>from South America, Like, there's a bunch of other people

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<v Speaker 3>who come into South America because it's easier to get

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<v Speaker 3>in who are taking this route too.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that's right.

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<v Speaker 2>So for most people who are coming to want to

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<v Speaker 2>come to the United States, they can't fly directly the

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<v Speaker 2>United States, right, it's quite rare to get their asylum

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<v Speaker 2>that way, very rare. And there's a HNV Cuba, Haiti,

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<v Speaker 2>Nicaragua Venezuela program which in theory allows that it's backed

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<v Speaker 2>up for like two years. So most people will fly

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<v Speaker 2>to a country in South America. The most regular one

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<v Speaker 2>is Brazil because Brazil doesn't impose visas on countries that

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<v Speaker 2>don't impose visas on it, and then from there they

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<v Speaker 2>begin making their way north. Geography understanders will realize that

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<v Speaker 2>Brazil is a very long way from the United States.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that's very bad. Like that's that's not good. That's yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it's not good at all.

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<v Speaker 2>Short of Argentina, you really you really couldn't get that

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<v Speaker 2>much further away, you know, in the continental Southern America.

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<v Speaker 2>So what people tend to do, especially so I spoke

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<v Speaker 2>to just off the top of my head. People from Nepal,

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<v Speaker 2>people from India, people from Venezuela, people from Colombia, people

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<v Speaker 2>from Angola, people from Cameroon, Togo, Iran. I spoke to

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<v Speaker 2>a Kurdish guy that he was from Iran. I'm trying

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<v Speaker 2>to think off the top of my head. That's most

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<v Speaker 2>of them.

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<v Speaker 3>Probably China, I know there's I didn't speak to any

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<v Speaker 3>Chinese migrants.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Interesting. Interesting.

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<v Speaker 2>I went fully prepared with like a machine to translate

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<v Speaker 2>and everything, and I didn't see any Chinese migrants, which

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<v Speaker 2>is quite surprising. Haitian people, of course, the special Locitian people.

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<v Speaker 2>The Chinese were coming through the dairy and gap in

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<v Speaker 2>big numbers.

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<v Speaker 1>Last year.

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<v Speaker 2>The only thing I heard about Chinese migrants was that

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<v Speaker 2>someone had seen the remains of someone who they described

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<v Speaker 2>as Chinese. Yeah. So if you're not familiar with the journey,

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<v Speaker 2>it is the most dangerous part of the migration route

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<v Speaker 2>in the Americas right. It's one of the most dangerous

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<v Speaker 2>migration routes on Earth. People have to walk for between

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<v Speaker 2>two days and a week. I've heard even fifteen days,

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<v Speaker 2>but the accounts I had maxed out a week. There

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<v Speaker 2>is nowhere to get water, there is nowhere to get food.

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<v Speaker 2>You have to walk through mud that can come up

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<v Speaker 2>to your waist, You have to cross rivers that are

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<v Speaker 2>higher than you are tall. You have to climb boulders

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<v Speaker 2>shemier across cliff faces. The accounts I heard and the

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<v Speaker 2>things I saw were pretty horrible, like and we've kind

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<v Speaker 2>of had a fun introduction, but I would rather go

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<v Speaker 2>back to the uncertainty I had of like being in

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<v Speaker 2>Syria last year and knowing that there were bombs falling

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<v Speaker 2>on people every night, then have to see some of

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<v Speaker 2>that stuff again. It's horrific, Like I can't really. I'm

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<v Speaker 2>obviously working on a scripted series and we'll have that

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<v Speaker 2>out soon. But like, in terms of the things that

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<v Speaker 2>we do to each other, a humans like little children

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<v Speaker 2>die in the darying gap all the time. People carry

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<v Speaker 2>their babies across rivers on their shoulders. People carry other

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<v Speaker 2>people's babies when people are too tired from carrying their

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<v Speaker 2>own children.

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<v Speaker 1>And not everyone who enters leaves.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, it's if you drink the water from the river,

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<v Speaker 2>you'll probably die because there are dead bodies and upstream right,

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<v Speaker 2>there's human waste in that river. If you fall and

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<v Speaker 2>break your leg you'll die if you run out of water.

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<v Speaker 2>You're not really in a place where anyone has any

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<v Speaker 2>spare water to give you.

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<v Speaker 1>It's horrific.

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<v Speaker 2>Every single account of the gap that I heard was

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<v Speaker 2>that no one should do it, that it's it's terrible,

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<v Speaker 2>that it's in human, it's like nothing people have ever seen.

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<v Speaker 2>But people don't have a choice, right, it's the only

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<v Speaker 2>way for people I spoke to, probably I have over

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<v Speaker 2>one hundred interviews recorded, you know, I spoke to more

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<v Speaker 2>people than that. The bast bulk of them were from

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<v Speaker 2>Venezuela and a place where I used to live, and like,

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<v Speaker 2>I understand that they lots of them have children, some

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<v Speaker 2>of them are bringing their children, some of them are

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<v Speaker 2>going ahead and trying to send money, right remittances back

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<v Speaker 2>to their children, right, And everyone said the same thing,

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<v Speaker 2>that there's no future for them in their country, that

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<v Speaker 2>they don't see a way of succeeding, of raising their families,

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<v Speaker 2>of having a future for themselves. There I met a

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<v Speaker 2>trans lady from Venezuela who was saying that, like, there

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<v Speaker 2>are legal things in place that won't allow her to

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<v Speaker 2>have her gender affirmed by documents, right, she wasn't able

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<v Speaker 2>to graduate with her degree.

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus Christ.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, like things are just completely deliberately torpedo.

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<v Speaker 2>Your life just being who you are as yourself. Right,

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<v Speaker 2>people aren't doing this because they want this fictional housing

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<v Speaker 2>assistance or whatever it is that Trump and jadivans. People

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<v Speaker 2>are doing this because they don't see a future for themselves.

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<v Speaker 2>I spoke to Iranian women right who had been on

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<v Speaker 2>the road for nearly a year trying to avoid prosecution

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<v Speaker 2>at home for having participated in protests for like basic

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<v Speaker 2>human rights. Yeah, it's just the things I heard and

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<v Speaker 2>saw were deeply, deeply upsetting, And I.

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<v Speaker 1>Think it's retally important that we.

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<v Speaker 2>I guess, kind of bear witness to this because it

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't really get discussed when the US media talks about migration.

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<v Speaker 2>Maybe if we're lucky, they'll come to the southern border

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<v Speaker 2>for a day, right and do some rassionistic piece on it,

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<v Speaker 2>But like, pretty often they talk about migrants, but they

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<v Speaker 2>don't talk to them, and so, like, I think it's

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<v Speaker 2>important that we talk to them, and I think it's

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<v Speaker 2>important that we face up to the fact that like

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<v Speaker 2>this is a choice that the people who have been

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<v Speaker 2>elected in this country have made. They've decided that the

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<v Speaker 2>only way, For instance, the only place to use CBP

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<v Speaker 2>one right is in southern Mexico or north of Mexico City.

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<v Speaker 1>Can you explain what CVP one is for people who

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<v Speaker 1>don't remember.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, sorry, So CBP one is an app that allows

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<v Speaker 2>people to apply for an interview for asylum.

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<v Speaker 1>Just to sort of skip ahead, I guess people.

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<v Speaker 2>Understand that they have to use CBP one, and they

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<v Speaker 2>understand that they can only do it in Mexico. And

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<v Speaker 2>the people who I met in the Darienna are now

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<v Speaker 2>in Mexico.

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<v Speaker 1>Right.

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<v Speaker 2>They take a series of buses north. Not all of them,

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<v Speaker 2>I'd explain why, but some of them haven't been able

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<v Speaker 2>to leave Panama yet. They take a series of buses

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<v Speaker 2>north and they get to the Guatemala Mexico boarder and

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<v Speaker 2>they cross in Tapatula and then they work out the

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<v Speaker 2>CBP one is not compatible with the vast majority of

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<v Speaker 2>cell phones. It doesn't work with older Android like Samsung phones.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh my fucking god.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, it works with iPhones and I didn't see

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<v Speaker 2>a thing or person with an iPhone. If you're wealthy,

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<v Speaker 2>you can avoid the DADDI en right. There are ways

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<v Speaker 2>you can go around in a boat. There are ways

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<v Speaker 2>that you can sort of take a shorter route. The

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<v Speaker 2>route that I was on is the route that people

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<v Speaker 2>who do not have the resources to avoid this dreadful

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<v Speaker 2>journey take. And now they get to Mexico and they

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<v Speaker 2>realize that, yeah, you have to get to Mexico to

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<v Speaker 2>make the application right, and the way to get there

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<v Speaker 2>is to cross the dairy end. And then when you

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<v Speaker 2>get there, you realize that this thing requires you'd have

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<v Speaker 2>a special telephone that you don't have.

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<v Speaker 1>And it's just very bleak.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a level of human evil, both in the sense

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<v Speaker 3>of it has been actively designed like this and in

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<v Speaker 3>the sense that they don't give a shit, like the

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<v Speaker 3>fact that that fucking app doesn't work on Android, it

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<v Speaker 3>doesn't work old or Androids, the fact that the app

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<v Speaker 3>fucking sucks shit like the entire way. Yeah, like everything

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<v Speaker 3>about this, Johnny. It's designed to be painful, to kill people,

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<v Speaker 3>to strip away like the hope that people have. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>and it's and it's designed to do this to like

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<v Speaker 3>attempt to satiate the fucking insane bloodlust of like seven

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<v Speaker 3>dipshits and fucking like rural southern Illinois. And it's like, Okay,

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<v Speaker 3>there's literally nothing you can do to ever appease these people.

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<v Speaker 3>The only the only thing that will ever appease them

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<v Speaker 3>is their own death. Like, nothing you're ever going to

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<v Speaker 3>do to these fucking immigrants is ever going to make

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<v Speaker 3>these people like like you could, You could, fucking you

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<v Speaker 3>could put these people in a country that has zero

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<v Speaker 3>immigrants at all, and they would still scream about it.

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<v Speaker 3>There's there's nothing you can fucking do. And people have

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<v Speaker 3>decided that in order to basically people have decided in

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<v Speaker 3>order to try to get like a one percent higher

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<v Speaker 3>margin in an election, they're probably still going to lose,

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<v Speaker 3>going to just fucking inflict inhuman suffering on unbelievably large

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<v Speaker 3>numbers of people.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Like I think that's the thing I want people

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<v Speaker 2>to really like grasp is like somebody has made a decision.

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<v Speaker 2>Maybe we should take an ad break here, advertising break, all.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, we're back.

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<v Speaker 2>So specifically, I want to talk about what the US

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<v Speaker 2>is doing right now in Panama, what it started doing

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<v Speaker 2>since July. Right, That's why I wanted to go when

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<v Speaker 2>I did. Panama had to change the presidency in July.

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<v Speaker 2>We have Molina as president now and he's promised to

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<v Speaker 2>close the Darien. Right, if your source was his social media,

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<v Speaker 2>then you would think it was closed. I saw about

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<v Speaker 2>a thousand people a day crossing it. None of them

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<v Speaker 2>had seen a barrier, none of them had seen the

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<v Speaker 2>razor wire. But he's posted about they didn't know that

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<v Speaker 2>it was using. What they did know was that the

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<v Speaker 2>US had an election in November, and everybody wants to

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<v Speaker 2>get here before that. Yeah, you know, I tried to

0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:11.520
<v Speaker 2>explain that, like we actually don't transition power immediately right,

0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:15.080
<v Speaker 2>that that happens in January, but everybody is concerned to

0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:18.800
<v Speaker 2>get here before the election. And what the US is

0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:23.640
<v Speaker 2>doing in Panama is the US is currently funding deportations

0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:29.480
<v Speaker 2>and I like saw that happening firsthand. With this is

0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:31.320
<v Speaker 2>this is honestly one of those things which just really

0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:34.839
<v Speaker 2>fucks me up and like I need to like I

0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:38.640
<v Speaker 2>know it just I tried to record stuff at the time.

0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:40.439
<v Speaker 1>And I just it's all just me saying this sucks.

0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:41.040
<v Speaker 1>This is terrible.

0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:44.520
<v Speaker 3>This like what it looks like is so you leave

0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:49.000
<v Speaker 3>bab Jaqito, right, which is Barjiquito is an indigenous village.

0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:52.640
<v Speaker 3>It's a village of the Ember people who were wonderful.

0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:53.840
<v Speaker 3>There were nothing but kind to me.

0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:57.400
<v Speaker 2>I stayed in their houses for a week and slept

0:12:57.480 --> 0:13:00.840
<v Speaker 2>in my hammock in the house, I shared their food,

0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:05.280
<v Speaker 2>held their little babies like they were incredible and client

0:13:05.360 --> 0:13:09.920
<v Speaker 2>hosts and very grateful to them. From Baljaquito, which is

0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:14.800
<v Speaker 2>this tiny village right. The population of Barjaquito triples every day.

0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:17.480
<v Speaker 2>Five hundred people live there. A thousand people roll up

0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:21.920
<v Speaker 2>every day and then they're transported in dugout canoes, like

0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:25.480
<v Speaker 2>a tiny canoe that is carved out from the trunk

0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:25.959
<v Speaker 2>of a tree.

0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:29.040
<v Speaker 1>They're two stroke bolted on the bag. I think I

0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:30.760
<v Speaker 1>posted a pitch on Twitter. If not, I will do.

0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:33.360
<v Speaker 2>The micros are taken upstream. They pay twenty five bucks

0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:36.400
<v Speaker 2>each and they're taken five hours upstream. If they don't

0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:39.560
<v Speaker 2>have the money, there's three canoes every day that are

0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:42.480
<v Speaker 2>provided for free, and they generally try and make sure

0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:44.719
<v Speaker 2>that all the women and children getting those canoes right.

0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:47.360
<v Speaker 2>One of the things that MBAA has done has made

0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:50.320
<v Speaker 2>everyone wear life jackets just because a lot of these

0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:52.920
<v Speaker 2>people can't swim right. They've been crossing rivers above their heads.

0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:55.320
<v Speaker 2>They told me that they made human chains, right, so

0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:58.800
<v Speaker 2>everybody sort of locks their arms together because the rivers

0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:02.560
<v Speaker 2>wash people away. They're transported from Bajuguesel to a place

0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:06.559
<v Speaker 2>called Lajas Blancas, which is the first migrant reception center

0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:09.480
<v Speaker 2>in Panama. So they're now leaving like they don't have

0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:13.720
<v Speaker 2>reservations in Panama. But they're in the Embra Wunan Cormarka.

0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:15.800
<v Speaker 2>And then when they get there, they're in the dai

0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:19.080
<v Speaker 2>En Commarca. So they're in sort of outside of an

0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:23.440
<v Speaker 2>almost entirely indigenous state of Panama and in like what

0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.920
<v Speaker 2>you would consider like Panamanian government custody. I guess when

0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:30.200
<v Speaker 2>they enter in Lahas Blancas, and when they get there,

0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:32.920
<v Speaker 2>they register, right, they show their passport, they do all

0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:36.120
<v Speaker 2>that stuff. And that's where like un has Shelters with

0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:39.640
<v Speaker 2>the Red Cross has a facility there, the highs Has

0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:43.040
<v Speaker 2>of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Global Brigades, all these

0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:45.120
<v Speaker 2>big NGOs that you're used to seeing in these places

0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:49.600
<v Speaker 2>have facilities there. But to leave Las Blancas, they need

0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:52.600
<v Speaker 2>sixty bucks per person to get on a bus, right,

0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:55.080
<v Speaker 2>and if they don't have sixty bucks to get on

0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:57.240
<v Speaker 2>the bus, I was told these buses are owned by

0:14:57.280 --> 0:14:58.920
<v Speaker 2>Panamanian parliamentary deputies.

0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:01.800
<v Speaker 1>But I haven't been able to confirm that unch fucking crush.

0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:05.680
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, someone is putting fifty five people on a bus,

0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:09.560
<v Speaker 2>taking sixty bucks from each of them, and sending about

0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:10.600
<v Speaker 2>twenty buses a day.

0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:14.200
<v Speaker 1>Like someone is making a lot of money.

0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.520
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, people will remember that one of these buses crashed

0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:20.880
<v Speaker 2>last year, killing forty two migrants. But the really big

0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:23.680
<v Speaker 2>thing is it's not the bus. It's not the ten

0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:26.880
<v Speaker 2>hour bus ride. Like those people are so happy to

0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:29.240
<v Speaker 2>be getting on the bus because they're continuing. It's the

0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:33.400
<v Speaker 2>people who don't have sixty bucks and like, yeah, they've

0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:36.880
<v Speaker 2>made it this far with a combination of whatever savings

0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:37.520
<v Speaker 2>they had.

0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:39.080
<v Speaker 1>And like incredible tenacity.

0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:43.120
<v Speaker 2>Right, Like they pay someone in Columbia obviously to bring

0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:45.240
<v Speaker 2>them so to get to the start of their walk

0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:47.400
<v Speaker 2>in deli En. They leave from neck or Clean, Columbia,

0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:50.720
<v Speaker 2>come across on a lancha like a speedboat, and then

0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:53.120
<v Speaker 2>they walk up to the Columbian border where the guides

0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:53.800
<v Speaker 2>and leave them.

0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:57.560
<v Speaker 1>Now the guides are obviously like this area is controlled by.

0:15:57.440 --> 0:15:59.680
<v Speaker 2>The golf cartel in Columbia, right, so they have safe

0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:02.360
<v Speaker 2>pass through that area. None of them had anything bad

0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:04.440
<v Speaker 2>to say about that area. It's when the guides leave

0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:07.120
<v Speaker 2>them and they're on their own into Panama. That's when

0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:10.960
<v Speaker 2>they didn't have water, they didn't have food because no

0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:12.960
<v Speaker 2>one's told them they need water and food to be fair,

0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:14.960
<v Speaker 2>right like that they weren't. I didn't think it was

0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:16.440
<v Speaker 2>going to take as long as it was, be as

0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:18.520
<v Speaker 2>hard as it was. It's not. So I've learned a

0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:20.520
<v Speaker 2>little bit from tiktoks and stuff, so I'm going to

0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:23.000
<v Speaker 2>bring a bit more. But four days of water is

0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.640
<v Speaker 2>a lot of water, Like speaking from experience, backpack in

0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:28.160
<v Speaker 2>the desert. If you don't have the right equipment, it's

0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:32.080
<v Speaker 2>hard to carry. So yeah, shuit is heavy, yeah, right,

0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:34.080
<v Speaker 2>like you do. Like that's the other part, Like.

0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:37.160
<v Speaker 1>If you want four liters a person, right, that's like

0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:41.000
<v Speaker 1>going to be four kilograms and that's a day. So

0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:44.120
<v Speaker 1>most like that. By four days, what is it in pounds?

0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:47.520
<v Speaker 2>Eight point eight pounds, it's four liters.

0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:50.640
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, you're also carrying this like through the fucking jungle,

0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:54.760
<v Speaker 3>which is just like everything's wet all the time, right,

0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:57.800
<v Speaker 3>you're sweating, you're crossing rivers, your feet are always wet,

0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:00.960
<v Speaker 3>like everyone's feet when they arrived and last blankerts, I

0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:03.320
<v Speaker 3>took pictures of this. But they all have these crappy

0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:07.640
<v Speaker 3>boots that they buy Nika clean Plumbia and every bin

0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:11.240
<v Speaker 3>in Bajiquito is full of these boots because they suck.

0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:15.560
<v Speaker 3>And people like the blisters I saw, and like people

0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.399
<v Speaker 3>getting trench foot right, like where the entire skin on

0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:20.760
<v Speaker 3>their foot is just ready to slough off like a glove.

0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:26.680
<v Speaker 3>Like everyone buys these crocs from a vendor in Bajiquito there,

0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:30.000
<v Speaker 3>but like they can get through all that. They everyone

0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:32.360
<v Speaker 3>who I met in Bajo Chiquito, everyone who I met

0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:36.919
<v Speaker 3>on the trail, had made right. They through tenacity and

0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:39.120
<v Speaker 3>like a lot of people said it like it's a roulette.

0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:41.520
<v Speaker 2>You go in there and you hope for the best.

0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:43.919
<v Speaker 2>Not everyone makes it, but most of them do. So

0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:47.000
<v Speaker 2>the people who had made it get to go to

0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:50.760
<v Speaker 2>Lahas Blancats, right, and if they can't afford the boat

0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:54.160
<v Speaker 2>from Bait to the last Blankers, they can walk. It's

0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:56.760
<v Speaker 2>non fine, it's very hours of walking, right. I mention

0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:59.120
<v Speaker 2>some of those guys one day and I gave them

0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:00.399
<v Speaker 2>water filters stuff.

0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:01.680
<v Speaker 1>I wasn't allowed to walk.

0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:06.199
<v Speaker 2>With them, but I was able to like talk with them,

0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:08.160
<v Speaker 2>and I spoke to them again when they arrived, right,

0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:11.399
<v Speaker 2>and they get to Last Blancats and they're just if

0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:13.200
<v Speaker 2>they don't have sixty bucks and they don't have it,

0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:15.639
<v Speaker 2>and then they stay there sometimes for months, and this

0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.800
<v Speaker 2>is not a place to stay for months. Like they

0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:21.280
<v Speaker 2>have little casitas which they have for like this one

0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:24.160
<v Speaker 2>for unaccompanied children, and then others I think are allocated

0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:27.320
<v Speaker 2>to families. But it's not much more than four walls

0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:29.240
<v Speaker 2>in a roof, and most people don't even get that right.

0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:31.320
<v Speaker 2>Most people are looking for a flat spot to pitch

0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:34.880
<v Speaker 2>the shitty tent that they bought in Colombia. And then

0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:39.680
<v Speaker 2>they're just stuck there. And there's obviously a relatively new policy.

0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:41.960
<v Speaker 2>They used to take five free people per bus, but

0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:45.760
<v Speaker 2>they don't anymore. Like from bar Jigito they have three

0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:49.440
<v Speaker 2>free boats a day, right, But leaving lasast Blancas, if

0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:51.920
<v Speaker 2>you don't have the money, then you don't leave. And

0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:54.719
<v Speaker 2>the people I spoke to there who are stuck there

0:18:54.760 --> 0:18:56.639
<v Speaker 2>are still stuck there. People have been stuck there for

0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.680
<v Speaker 2>more than a month. Their children aren't going to school,

0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:04.040
<v Speaker 2>they're sleeping on the ground. If this is not a

0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:06.440
<v Speaker 2>place that's designed to be a long term residence, it's

0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:08.719
<v Speaker 2>designed to be like one night and moving through and

0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:13.080
<v Speaker 2>every day new people arrive who can't afford it, and

0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:16.600
<v Speaker 2>so the population is growing and growing and growing, and

0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:20.040
<v Speaker 2>there seems to be no solution. No one I spoke

0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:25.480
<v Speaker 2>to could point to what they want them to do right,

0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:27.639
<v Speaker 2>Like they're being given free food by the government.

0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:29.320
<v Speaker 1>Some of them said the food wasn't great.

0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:32.399
<v Speaker 2>I'm not sure if it's halal like sometimes some of

0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:34.479
<v Speaker 2>them said they'd seen foods that had pork in it.

0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:36.439
<v Speaker 2>But I didn't see any food to have pork in

0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:38.120
<v Speaker 2>it when I was there, so maybe that's been changed.

0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:44.720
<v Speaker 1>But they're just stuck there. Yeah, there's nothing they can do. Right.

0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:47.960
<v Speaker 2>If they want to have money transferred there, they can

0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:51.040
<v Speaker 2>do it through a local intermediary who charges to twenty

0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:54.320
<v Speaker 2>five percent fee. So now if you don't have sixty yeah,

0:19:54.680 --> 0:19:57.280
<v Speaker 2>like you need seventy five bucks now right to get

0:19:57.280 --> 0:20:00.000
<v Speaker 2>your sixty bucks. Now, multiply that by a family of fire.

0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:04.639
<v Speaker 2>You can start to see why it becomes inaccessible to people.

0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:08.280
<v Speaker 3>And that's that's a lot of money. Like if you're

0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:12.240
<v Speaker 3>in this position, like that's yeah.

0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.960
<v Speaker 2>It costs so much more to travel on busesm and

0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:17.720
<v Speaker 2>by foot. Across the Americans and it would to fly. Yeah,

0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:20.359
<v Speaker 2>Like all of them would love to fly, but they

0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:24.159
<v Speaker 2>can't because we have this system that makes everyone money

0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:25.680
<v Speaker 2>apart from the migrants.

0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:28.480
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, And it's like it didn't fucking it didn't fucking

0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:30.920
<v Speaker 3>used to be like this. Like when my family came

0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:32.399
<v Speaker 3>to the US, like we didn't have to like, you know,

0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:34.439
<v Speaker 3>we had a bunch of fucking harrowing shit to like

0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:37.639
<v Speaker 3>flee the Japanese and like get to Taiwan. But it

0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:39.560
<v Speaker 3>was like like when my parents, like and like their

0:20:39.640 --> 0:20:42.080
<v Speaker 3>parents like came to the US, they just they fucking

0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:44.840
<v Speaker 3>flew in. None of this fucking has to be the

0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:46.679
<v Speaker 3>way any of this shit works. It didn't used to

0:20:46.680 --> 0:20:48.560
<v Speaker 3>be the way any of this shit works. And it's

0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:50.320
<v Speaker 3>like like these are people from countries, and you know,

0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:52.399
<v Speaker 3>it's like, yeah, obviously, like my parents were like leading

0:20:52.440 --> 0:20:54.840
<v Speaker 3>from Taiwan to the US, right, which makes it easier,

0:20:54.880 --> 0:20:56.800
<v Speaker 3>but these are also these are people from places that

0:20:56.840 --> 0:20:59.560
<v Speaker 3>the US fucking hates, Yeah, and so like you you

0:20:59.560 --> 0:21:02.800
<v Speaker 3>would expack them to get like at least somewhat similar

0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:05.480
<v Speaker 3>treatment to people who came from like Taiwan, which is

0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:08.800
<v Speaker 3>at the time, you know, like US ally anti China stuff,

0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:10.399
<v Speaker 3>but like, no, we've just decided to just feed the

0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:11.800
<v Speaker 3>people to a fucking meek grinder.

0:21:12.119 --> 0:21:17.080
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and it gets me to my next fucking trauma dump,

0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:31.200
<v Speaker 2>the sick an outbreak before the Yeah, yeah they're back.

0:21:31.960 --> 0:21:32.320
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

0:21:32.760 --> 0:21:35.320
<v Speaker 2>So yeah, as me I mentioned, right, these are places

0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:38.560
<v Speaker 2>that the US considers to be dictatorial or impressive regimes

0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:41.359
<v Speaker 2>right around Venezuela, Cuba three that come to mind of

0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:44.199
<v Speaker 2>people that I met, right, And so a lot of

0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:46.240
<v Speaker 2>these people have what's called a temporary protected states in

0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:48.960
<v Speaker 2>the US. It doesn't mean that they necessarily can't be deported.

0:21:49.040 --> 0:21:51.480
<v Speaker 2>Sometimes they can, but sometimes it makes it a bit

0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:55.800
<v Speaker 2>harder right to deport to those countries. Panama, it's not

0:21:55.880 --> 0:22:00.320
<v Speaker 2>governed by United States immigration law. Yeah, we gave On

0:22:00.359 --> 0:22:04.480
<v Speaker 2>the day that Molino took office, Alejandro Majorcas, himself the

0:22:04.600 --> 0:22:08.800
<v Speaker 2>child of minrants from Cuba, I believe, went to Panama,

0:22:08.840 --> 0:22:12.160
<v Speaker 2>attended the inauguration, and then announced this six million dollar

0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:14.760
<v Speaker 2>aid package right which the US was going to give

0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:19.119
<v Speaker 2>to fun deportations from Panama directly. And I got to

0:22:19.119 --> 0:22:21.439
<v Speaker 2>see those deportations happening, right, like you'll hear them in

0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:27.560
<v Speaker 2>my scripted series. But like watching somebody take a dad

0:22:27.920 --> 0:22:32.520
<v Speaker 2>away from his baby, or a mother away from her children,

0:22:34.119 --> 0:22:39.200
<v Speaker 2>or one man's brother away from his brother. Like it's

0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:42.640
<v Speaker 2>just heartbreaking. These people have crossed the daddy in right.

0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:46.040
<v Speaker 2>They've undertaken a journey. Like I've done a lot of mountaineering.

0:22:46.040 --> 0:22:47.680
<v Speaker 2>I've done a lot of climbing. I like to fuck

0:22:47.720 --> 0:22:49.800
<v Speaker 2>around outside, but like, I've never done anything where I

0:22:49.800 --> 0:22:51.399
<v Speaker 2>didn't know if I was going to come back. Really,

0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:55.960
<v Speaker 2>and like they've done that. They've taken this incredibly difficult journey.

0:22:56.160 --> 0:23:00.600
<v Speaker 2>And then when they get to the other side, you you, you, you,

0:23:00.680 --> 0:23:02.720
<v Speaker 2>and you, they get picked out and they get deported

0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:05.000
<v Speaker 2>back right on flights that are paid for by your

0:23:05.000 --> 0:23:09.359
<v Speaker 2>tax dollars and my tax dollars. And this includes flights

0:23:09.359 --> 0:23:12.840
<v Speaker 2>to Cuba. This includes flights to Venezuela, right places that

0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:16.840
<v Speaker 2>the US considers to be like dictatorial regimes. And now

0:23:16.840 --> 0:23:19.720
<v Speaker 2>these people are back in Cuba. They're back in Venezuela,

0:23:19.800 --> 0:23:22.040
<v Speaker 2>but their government knows that they tried to leave and

0:23:22.040 --> 0:23:25.679
<v Speaker 2>they've spent all their fucking savings, so they're back in

0:23:25.720 --> 0:23:28.160
<v Speaker 2>square one. I spoke to a few Colombians. They've also

0:23:28.160 --> 0:23:31.240
<v Speaker 2>deported a lot of Colombian people most of the Colombian

0:23:31.240 --> 0:23:34.000
<v Speaker 2>people I spoke to in last Blancats were deported. They

0:23:34.040 --> 0:23:38.080
<v Speaker 2>called all the Colombian nationals to choose the office and

0:23:38.080 --> 0:23:41.520
<v Speaker 2>then these I was told that they were only deporting

0:23:41.520 --> 0:23:45.440
<v Speaker 2>people who had like warrants, like pending cases. But when

0:23:45.480 --> 0:23:48.520
<v Speaker 2>these people got back to Colombia, they were just free

0:23:48.560 --> 0:23:50.280
<v Speaker 2>to go, right, Like if you have a pending case

0:23:50.280 --> 0:23:52.840
<v Speaker 2>and someone delivers you to the government. I'm not an

0:23:52.880 --> 0:23:55.560
<v Speaker 2>expert in Colombian law enforcement, but it seems like that

0:23:55.600 --> 0:23:58.239
<v Speaker 2>would be a good time to prosecute that case. And

0:23:58.280 --> 0:24:00.440
<v Speaker 2>these people tell me that they've been let go. None

0:24:00.480 --> 0:24:03.919
<v Speaker 2>of them told me if they had warrants. Now, like,

0:24:04.040 --> 0:24:07.000
<v Speaker 2>I'm just going off what they said. But that night

0:24:07.040 --> 0:24:09.280
<v Speaker 2>they were texting me pictures themselves in handcuffs. By the

0:24:09.280 --> 0:24:12.520
<v Speaker 2>next day they were back in medine telling me that

0:24:12.520 --> 0:24:15.439
<v Speaker 2>they'd been sent home, including like I was talking to

0:24:15.440 --> 0:24:18.640
<v Speaker 2>a lady just before we recorded, who she doesn't know

0:24:18.800 --> 0:24:22.880
<v Speaker 2>where her children's father, her husband is right, And lots

0:24:22.920 --> 0:24:26.280
<v Speaker 2>of people will have like I guess what's the English translation,

0:24:26.400 --> 0:24:31.400
<v Speaker 2>like free unions, Like when they're like married for legal reasons,

0:24:31.520 --> 0:24:33.960
<v Speaker 2>they don't go and have a wedding, but they're considered

0:24:33.960 --> 0:24:36.760
<v Speaker 2>to be married common law marriage, I guess would be

0:24:36.760 --> 0:24:39.000
<v Speaker 2>the phrase, right, like they've lived together for a number

0:24:39.040 --> 0:24:41.639
<v Speaker 2>of years, share a house, etc. Often have children, but

0:24:41.640 --> 0:24:44.040
<v Speaker 2>they're not like they never had a wedding. So I

0:24:44.080 --> 0:24:48.120
<v Speaker 2>don't know if that document makes difference, But I watched

0:24:48.280 --> 0:24:51.199
<v Speaker 2>people have their children taken out their arms and be

0:24:51.240 --> 0:24:53.600
<v Speaker 2>shoved in the back of trucks and be deported, and like,

0:24:54.680 --> 0:25:00.680
<v Speaker 2>that fucking sucks. That is not something that I want

0:25:00.720 --> 0:25:04.760
<v Speaker 2>to see again. And it happens every single day there,

0:25:05.600 --> 0:25:08.159
<v Speaker 2>and it happens because your taxes are paying for it.

0:25:08.200 --> 0:25:11.920
<v Speaker 2>Didn't used to happen, and now it does, and it's

0:25:12.080 --> 0:25:15.960
<v Speaker 2>just heartbreaking. Like I don't really like it's there's nothing

0:25:16.000 --> 0:25:19.199
<v Speaker 2>you can do. You know that there's no you know,

0:25:19.240 --> 0:25:22.199
<v Speaker 2>I can't do anything to stop it. You can't do

0:25:22.280 --> 0:25:24.400
<v Speaker 2>anything to stop it, right, Like what you can vote

0:25:24.440 --> 0:25:27.000
<v Speaker 2>for Donald Trump, who would like to machine gun every

0:25:27.600 --> 0:25:29.680
<v Speaker 2>asylum secret at the border if you got a chance,

0:25:29.760 --> 0:25:33.840
<v Speaker 2>Or you can vote to Kamala Harris, who has presided

0:25:33.880 --> 0:25:37.640
<v Speaker 2>over record migrant deaths every year of her administration, who's

0:25:37.640 --> 0:25:41.120
<v Speaker 2>sending your money to port people in Panama, who knows

0:25:41.240 --> 0:25:44.480
<v Speaker 2>that the choices that she's made are resulting in like

0:25:44.960 --> 0:25:49.280
<v Speaker 2>death in Panama, death here right, Like there were four

0:25:49.320 --> 0:25:52.080
<v Speaker 2>people who died, and then the heat wave in the

0:25:52.119 --> 0:25:54.280
<v Speaker 2>first week of September, four people who died in o

0:25:54.400 --> 0:25:57.040
<v Speaker 2>Time mount and wilderness in a tiny area ten miles

0:25:57.080 --> 0:26:00.719
<v Speaker 2>across of border in San Diego, and my friends had

0:26:00.720 --> 0:26:03.600
<v Speaker 2>to go insert their bodies, and my friends found their remains,

0:26:03.840 --> 0:26:07.359
<v Speaker 2>and I had to confront the fact that, like, this

0:26:07.400 --> 0:26:10.840
<v Speaker 2>is the toll of the rhetoric, Like this is what

0:26:10.960 --> 0:26:13.640
<v Speaker 2>the rhetoric costs. The other thing I want to mention

0:26:13.760 --> 0:26:15.919
<v Speaker 2>is that like, even in the most desperate moments of

0:26:15.960 --> 0:26:20.159
<v Speaker 2>their lives, everyone looked out for one another in a

0:26:20.200 --> 0:26:23.000
<v Speaker 2>way that like we don't hear. Like one of the

0:26:23.040 --> 0:26:26.840
<v Speaker 2>things that really struck me was that, like everyone's kids

0:26:26.880 --> 0:26:29.120
<v Speaker 2>are just kind of out and about, right, no one's

0:26:29.160 --> 0:26:33.199
<v Speaker 2>particularly afraid of anyone hurting their kids, Like all of

0:26:33.240 --> 0:26:35.160
<v Speaker 2>these kids. And I saw people who had got split

0:26:35.280 --> 0:26:38.560
<v Speaker 2>up in the Gap find each other again in Bahochikito,

0:26:38.720 --> 0:26:42.119
<v Speaker 2>and like, you know, there were strangers who had carried

0:26:42.160 --> 0:26:45.200
<v Speaker 2>someone's children for two days because that other person was

0:26:45.240 --> 0:26:47.440
<v Speaker 2>so tired or they had another child they needed to carry,

0:26:47.560 --> 0:26:52.200
<v Speaker 2>and like, yeah, I'm strangely comfortable, I guess in refugee camps,

0:26:52.200 --> 0:26:54.359
<v Speaker 2>Like I went to Panama City afterwards, and like I

0:26:54.359 --> 0:26:56.240
<v Speaker 2>couldn't have it. It was too much for me, and I

0:26:56.320 --> 0:26:58.359
<v Speaker 2>had to stay in my hotel room and like I

0:26:58.359 --> 0:27:03.119
<v Speaker 2>guess it was just difficult. But like I feel safe

0:27:03.240 --> 0:27:06.760
<v Speaker 2>in those places. I feel comfortable, and like in a

0:27:06.840 --> 0:27:09.760
<v Speaker 2>sense it's well, you see the best of us and

0:27:09.800 --> 0:27:13.600
<v Speaker 2>the worst of us. I guess, like I can't imagine

0:27:13.600 --> 0:27:15.280
<v Speaker 2>being in a place where I know I could lose

0:27:15.280 --> 0:27:19.479
<v Speaker 2>my life if I slip and fall, and then thinking well,

0:27:19.520 --> 0:27:20.879
<v Speaker 2>I've got to carry this little kid.

0:27:21.359 --> 0:27:23.800
<v Speaker 1>Never met this kid before. I don't share a language.

0:27:23.840 --> 0:27:24.000
<v Speaker 1>You know.

0:27:24.080 --> 0:27:27.680
<v Speaker 2>There was a group from Angola and they'd been carrying

0:27:27.760 --> 0:27:30.679
<v Speaker 2>Venezuelan and children. Right, they can't even talk to one another,

0:27:30.760 --> 0:27:32.399
<v Speaker 2>but they potentially.

0:27:32.119 --> 0:27:36.639
<v Speaker 3>Risk their lives to help. Yeah, it's it's it's pretty

0:27:36.640 --> 0:27:37.320
<v Speaker 3>fucking bleak.

0:27:37.680 --> 0:27:40.560
<v Speaker 2>I'm staying in touch with everyone I met, and they're

0:27:40.600 --> 0:27:43.159
<v Speaker 2>telling me about their journeys to the border. Unfortunately, the

0:27:43.160 --> 0:27:45.399
<v Speaker 2>thing that comes next is eight to nine month delay

0:27:45.600 --> 0:27:48.399
<v Speaker 2>as they apply for a CVP one appointment, And like

0:27:48.720 --> 0:27:53.280
<v Speaker 2>I wish I could offer something hopeful. I guess what

0:27:53.359 --> 0:27:55.960
<v Speaker 2>I'll say is what I always say that, like there

0:27:56.000 --> 0:27:57.960
<v Speaker 2>isn't anyone you can vote for who will fix this,

0:27:58.359 --> 0:28:02.600
<v Speaker 2>Like you can vote for Coil West with Jill Stein,

0:28:02.640 --> 0:28:04.919
<v Speaker 2>Like I'm not going to vote for someone who fucking

0:28:04.920 --> 0:28:09.160
<v Speaker 2>supports the policy sort of creating refugees in Syria, right whatever,

0:28:09.440 --> 0:28:13.320
<v Speaker 2>I'm not suggesting that that's a solution either. Like the

0:28:13.400 --> 0:28:15.960
<v Speaker 2>things that you need to do are like there is

0:28:16.000 --> 0:28:18.960
<v Speaker 2>a person helping migrants in your community. I spoke to

0:28:18.960 --> 0:28:22.200
<v Speaker 2>a Jesuit shelter. I'll put them in my scripted episode.

0:28:22.200 --> 0:28:25.320
<v Speaker 2>Like I'm not a big religious shelter guy, but these

0:28:25.320 --> 0:28:28.879
<v Speaker 2>guys were fucking great. These guys are saving people's lives

0:28:28.920 --> 0:28:31.800
<v Speaker 2>and making sure that people have the basic necessity like

0:28:32.280 --> 0:28:34.280
<v Speaker 2>literally turning up at the refuge camp and making sure

0:28:34.320 --> 0:28:38.560
<v Speaker 2>everyone had toilet roll and toothbrushes and things that, yeah,

0:28:38.720 --> 0:28:40.280
<v Speaker 2>you don't need for one night, but you're going to

0:28:40.280 --> 0:28:42.360
<v Speaker 2>be there for a month you don't have. You know,

0:28:42.680 --> 0:28:44.120
<v Speaker 2>what are you going to do? Spend five bucks on

0:28:44.200 --> 0:28:46.960
<v Speaker 2>toothbrush and toothpaste, But that's five less bucks you have

0:28:47.000 --> 0:28:50.560
<v Speaker 2>for your bus fare, right So, like I'll put them

0:28:50.600 --> 0:28:53.680
<v Speaker 2>out there. I would love to do a fundraiser, Like

0:28:53.720 --> 0:28:56.320
<v Speaker 2>if anyone can work out how to facilitate transfers to

0:28:56.760 --> 0:28:59.520
<v Speaker 2>migrants who are in the camp for free. That would

0:28:59.560 --> 0:29:02.600
<v Speaker 2>be great, Uh, Like that would be a service that

0:29:02.680 --> 0:29:06.240
<v Speaker 2>would make things considerably easier for people. But the way

0:29:06.280 --> 0:29:09.120
<v Speaker 2>that you fix this is showing up, Like it's showing

0:29:09.200 --> 0:29:10.880
<v Speaker 2>up at the border if you live near the border,

0:29:11.240 --> 0:29:15.200
<v Speaker 2>it's showing up in your community. It's countering this like

0:29:16.080 --> 0:29:19.920
<v Speaker 2>with people in your family and your circle, Like there's

0:29:19.960 --> 0:29:23.880
<v Speaker 2>a tacit agreement. I think in the entire corporate media

0:29:23.960 --> 0:29:27.080
<v Speaker 2>that migrants are humans without rights, Like they're just numbers

0:29:27.320 --> 0:29:31.800
<v Speaker 2>to these people, because I don't see them talking to migrants, right,

0:29:32.000 --> 0:29:35.880
<v Speaker 2>Like these are people who you know, like I help

0:29:35.920 --> 0:29:38.240
<v Speaker 2>them change their babies, I carried their bags for them,

0:29:38.560 --> 0:29:40.320
<v Speaker 2>I played with their kids so they could go take

0:29:40.320 --> 0:29:44.560
<v Speaker 2>a shower like that. They're people just like anyone else.

0:29:44.680 --> 0:29:47.480
<v Speaker 2>Of course they are right that, Like, Yeah, they're important

0:29:47.480 --> 0:29:51.040
<v Speaker 2>to me, and it's fucking miserable to see my tax

0:29:51.120 --> 0:29:53.640
<v Speaker 2>dollars used to make these people suffer.

0:29:53.960 --> 0:29:56.800
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, these people should be more important than the fucking

0:29:56.880 --> 0:29:59.680
<v Speaker 3>sons of boat dealers. Who's fucking got the land they

0:29:59.720 --> 0:30:02.720
<v Speaker 3>live because their ancestors fucking shot a bunch of people. Yeah,

0:30:02.800 --> 0:30:05.479
<v Speaker 3>like that's That's what's happening here, is that these people

0:30:05.520 --> 0:30:07.520
<v Speaker 3>who are you know, some of the most courageous people

0:30:07.560 --> 0:30:11.040
<v Speaker 3>in the entire world, are being sacrificed to appease a

0:30:11.080 --> 0:30:14.240
<v Speaker 3>bunch of fucking shits. It's a level of evil that

0:30:14.360 --> 0:30:20.840
<v Speaker 3>is just unfathomable. Yeah, I think, like we really shouldn't.

0:30:21.120 --> 0:30:24.160
<v Speaker 2>I'm somewhat ranting now, but like, yeah, the pivot that

0:30:24.200 --> 0:30:26.720
<v Speaker 2>even the Democrats have done in the last four years,

0:30:27.080 --> 0:30:29.760
<v Speaker 2>right like, those people need to be held accountable for

0:30:29.800 --> 0:30:32.960
<v Speaker 2>what is resulting in like babies dying.

0:30:33.600 --> 0:30:35.240
<v Speaker 1>Like I saw dead kids.

0:30:36.120 --> 0:30:39.760
<v Speaker 2>I saw that because Kamala Harris and Joe Biden whichever

0:30:39.840 --> 0:30:44.360
<v Speaker 2>other fucking Democrat senators and representatives keep voting for this shit,

0:30:44.880 --> 0:30:47.320
<v Speaker 2>decided that it was okay for those babies to die

0:30:47.400 --> 0:30:49.560
<v Speaker 2>because they didn't want Fox News to say mean stuff

0:30:49.560 --> 0:30:52.160
<v Speaker 2>about them or NBC to say mean stuff about them,

0:30:52.240 --> 0:30:55.240
<v Speaker 2>right like, And of course they're trying to move that

0:30:55.280 --> 0:30:57.880
<v Speaker 2>stuff as far away from you as possible. Of course

0:30:57.920 --> 0:31:00.920
<v Speaker 2>they want the deportations to be done in Panama, not here,

0:31:01.000 --> 0:31:02.600
<v Speaker 2>so you don't see it in your community.

0:31:03.120 --> 0:31:04.360
<v Speaker 1>And of course they want people.

0:31:04.200 --> 0:31:05.920
<v Speaker 2>To die a crossing the Darien and not on our

0:31:06.000 --> 0:31:10.000
<v Speaker 2>border because that's removed, and you don't hear it reported

0:31:10.040 --> 0:31:13.320
<v Speaker 2>on right, Like it's not a Venezuelan woman died on Thursday.

0:31:13.480 --> 0:31:16.800
<v Speaker 2>We're recording this on Tuesday, like Wednesday. You don't see

0:31:16.800 --> 0:31:19.920
<v Speaker 2>that reported, right, You don't see that there are little kids'

0:31:19.960 --> 0:31:22.720
<v Speaker 2>bodies in the jungle reported because it's out of sight

0:31:22.800 --> 0:31:25.440
<v Speaker 2>and out of mind, And like, I guess the thing

0:31:25.440 --> 0:31:27.760
<v Speaker 2>you can do is constantly bring it back into people's

0:31:27.800 --> 0:31:30.880
<v Speaker 2>minds and make them accountable for their choices. And like,

0:31:31.800 --> 0:31:33.520
<v Speaker 2>I guess this is the point where the electoralists get

0:31:33.560 --> 0:31:37.480
<v Speaker 2>mad at me. I'm not voting for someone who chose that, yeah, Like,

0:31:37.520 --> 0:31:39.440
<v Speaker 2>and I never could, Like I couldn't live with myself

0:31:39.480 --> 0:31:41.920
<v Speaker 2>if I did. I know a system which reduces our

0:31:41.960 --> 0:31:46.040
<v Speaker 2>political engagement taking a box every four years is asinine

0:31:46.520 --> 0:31:49.920
<v Speaker 2>and child like, Like I would much rather be out

0:31:49.920 --> 0:31:52.680
<v Speaker 2>there every day helping people than voting once every four years.

0:31:52.720 --> 0:31:55.200
<v Speaker 2>And like, you can do both, of course you can.

0:31:55.440 --> 0:31:59.520
<v Speaker 2>But yeah, there's not a voting solution for this, Like

0:31:59.680 --> 0:32:01.400
<v Speaker 2>it requires all of us to do a lot of

0:32:01.440 --> 0:32:06.800
<v Speaker 2>work because we're so far down the path which ends

0:32:06.840 --> 0:32:08.680
<v Speaker 2>in a really terrible place. Right, it's already a terrible

0:32:08.720 --> 0:32:11.440
<v Speaker 2>place that these people's lives don't matter, and that their

0:32:11.480 --> 0:32:14.880
<v Speaker 2>children's lives don't matter, and that we shouldn't care if

0:32:14.920 --> 0:32:17.719
<v Speaker 2>they're dying in the jungle. And we've got a lot

0:32:17.720 --> 0:32:19.560
<v Speaker 2>of work to do to get back from that, because

0:32:19.560 --> 0:32:21.720
<v Speaker 2>apparently it's okay with a lot of people in this country.

0:32:21.960 --> 0:32:24.520
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I think part of the reason why it's gotten

0:32:24.520 --> 0:32:27.160
<v Speaker 3>this bad is that the social movements that had pushed

0:32:27.160 --> 0:32:30.440
<v Speaker 3>the Democrats in a slightly better direction in the late

0:32:30.440 --> 0:32:35.880
<v Speaker 3>twenty tens stopped social movement thing. So you know, the

0:32:35.920 --> 0:32:39.160
<v Speaker 3>only thing that these people will respond to is like

0:32:39.400 --> 0:32:42.480
<v Speaker 3>they're actually being mass mutilizations and them be feeling politically

0:32:42.480 --> 0:32:45.640
<v Speaker 3>threatened by it. So you know, we've done it before,

0:32:45.760 --> 0:32:46.520
<v Speaker 3>we can do it again.

0:32:47.480 --> 0:32:47.680
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:32:47.680 --> 0:32:49.520
<v Speaker 2>The biggest march in this country's history was the March

0:32:49.560 --> 0:32:52.200
<v Speaker 2>of migrants, Right, we can do that again. So many

0:32:52.280 --> 0:32:55.240
<v Speaker 2>of us, myself included, came here to have a chance

0:32:55.240 --> 0:32:58.560
<v Speaker 2>a better future. And like, even if you didn't share

0:32:58.560 --> 0:33:03.120
<v Speaker 2>some solidarity with people like showing up in massive numbers,

0:33:03.800 --> 0:33:06.800
<v Speaker 2>Yet these movement stopped social movementing and people fell out

0:33:06.800 --> 0:33:08.760
<v Speaker 2>of a little things. But like, this shit is important,

0:33:09.160 --> 0:33:12.360
<v Speaker 2>and I think we can build some bridges and we

0:33:12.440 --> 0:33:15.520
<v Speaker 2>need to do something to stop this because it's horrific. Yeah,

0:33:15.680 --> 0:33:18.040
<v Speaker 2>and so it's a genocide in Ghaza, like we can.

0:33:18.440 --> 0:33:20.640
<v Speaker 2>We need to do something to stop that too, but

0:33:21.440 --> 0:33:23.040
<v Speaker 2>we're not going to do it through voting.

0:33:26.560 --> 0:33:29.040
<v Speaker 4>It Could Happen Here is a production of cool Zone Media.

0:33:29.200 --> 0:33:32.280
<v Speaker 4>For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website

0:33:32.360 --> 0:33:34.920
<v Speaker 4>cool Zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the

0:33:34.960 --> 0:33:38.880
<v Speaker 4>iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

0:33:39.320 --> 0:33:41.240
<v Speaker 4>You can now find sources for It Could Happen Here

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<v Speaker 4>listened directly in episode descriptions. Thanks for listening.