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The Monitor takes an in depth look at how and where people are crossing the Southern US border.
Would-be migrants say nothing will stop them from working in US.
They stream in. Today, the same as yesterday. The same as the day before. Backpacks are stuffed with bottled water, soap, chips, maybe an icon of the Virgin of Guadalupe. They wear sweaters and wool hats for the cold desert nights.
It often starts here, in Altar, 60 miles south of the Arizona border, at one of the largest staging points for would-be migrants attempting to cross into the US illegally. The travelers arrive from all over Mexico, Central America, even as far away as Colombia, and Brazil.
They are going to "El Norte." They tell you that, straight out. And if they don't cross this time, they will simply try again.
While debate in the US continues over immigration reform policy, here, on the south side of the border, there seems to be consensus that enforcement measures will deter almost no one. 'Walls and lights and sensors and police fill our heads,' says Dagoberto Martinez, '...but they don't make us turn back.'
