Migrants // Current TV

The 99%

Here's a visual reminder of the people who make this country great.

Progresshiv
added this
2 months ago
|
1 comment

Deportation is Inhumane

The National Day Labor Organizing Network tries "TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF DAY... more

Progresshiv
added this
6 months ago
|
50 comments

Between Libya and the Deep Sea

NATO’s five-month bombing campaign in Libya, run under the guise of protecting... more

Simba_Russeau
added this
6 months ago
|
0 comments

Death For Profit

Sign petition at immigrantsforsale. org Roberto Martinez-Medina died in CCA's... more

emailaxel
added this
7 months ago
|
9 comments

250 Migrants Missing After Boat Capsizes

The recent unrest in Northern Africa has spurred thousands of migrants to take the... more

Noreen_Moustafa
added this
10 months ago
|
1 comment

Why I am moving AGAIN!

Imagine an entire county where ANY person can have up to 5 marijuana plants AND carry... more

Devmarie
added this
1 year ago
|
8 comments

Migrant Workers Launch Lawsuit Against Denny's For Wage Theft

Filippino workers in British Columbia launch lawsuit against Denny's restaurant... more

mollymew
added this
1 year ago
|
0 comments

Write For Father Solalinde

Amnesty International campaign for Mexican priest who helps migrants and refugees,... more

mollymew
added this
1 year ago
|
0 comments

Indonesian maid tortured in Saudi Arabia, another beaten to death

DEAR VANGUARD JOURNALISTS / PRODUCERS: PLEASE INVESTIGATE THESE CASES -- IT NEEDS TO... more

dryeraser
added this
1 year ago
|
150 comments

Arizona's Overflowing Morgues Full of Unidentified Migrants: Scenes From Vanguard

Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel investigates the record-setting number of dead... more

ctv
added this
1 year ago
|
2 comments

When A Priest Is Your Fixer: Vanguard Behind the Scenes

To document the dangerous journey taken by migrants, Vanguard correspondent Christof... more

Christof
added this
1 year ago
|
2 comments

How to Cross the U.S.-Mexico Border: Vanguard Behind the Scenes

In August 2010, Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel sought to document the illegal... more

Adam_Yamaguchi
added this
1 year ago
|
27 comments

Life and Death on the Border: Vanguard Trailer

In "Life And Death On The Border," Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel... more

Christof
added this
1 year ago
|
14 comments

Why I Smuggled Myself Across the Border

Christof Putzel is a Vanguard correspondent. As part of his investigation into the immigration debate, he crossed the border from Mexico into the U.S. on foot.
Americans may be preoccupied by the economic hardships they face because of the Great Recession. Unemployment is stuck close to ten percent; poverty claims a larger share of the population each year; many older people without the means to retire fear they’ll never work again.
But for millions of people looking at the United States from afar, America is still worth risking everything just for a shot at a better life.
The presence of illegal immigrants, now estimated at eleven million, is a source of bitter and emotional controversy among us. They build our houses, clean our office buildings, harvest our food, care for our kids, cut our lawns and hire themselves out for a pittance to do odd jobs. They’re fixtures in restaurant kitchens, poultry processing plants and jobs considered too dirty or too menial for others to do. Yet they keep coming, especially from the south, sneaking across the border from Mexico any way they can. It’s a dangerous dash, often into the arms of waiting border patrol.
Nearly all of us are descended from immigrants, of course. But in recent years, as living standards have stagnated or declined for all but the wealthiest and most fortunate Americans, the political pressure to choke off illegal migration has exploded. Billions of dollars are spent on higher, stronger fences, sophisticated sensing technology and more border patrol agents.
Tighter security has pushed would-be migrants to try more and more remote and treacherous areas along the nearly 2,000-mile US/Mexico border. Fewer get through. More die on the way. Yet hundreds of thousands try it every year. This year, officials say, more people have died in the desert on American soil than ever before.
To understand what crossers go through for a shot at the American dream, I went to the small Mexican town of Altar, a hotbed of human smuggling, where migrants pay coyotes—smugglers—to take them across. On assignment for Current TV’s documentary series, Vanguard, I found a coyote willing to allow me to accompany him across the border and into southern Arizona desert.
The trip frequently takes three or four days to reach a road north of the border. The coyotes restrict each traveler to two gallons of water, which often isn’t enough to survive. Authorities have found the remains of more than 250 people already this year, and they estimate that for every body they discover many more lie unfound under the brutal southern sun.
For me it was humbling to experience first hand just what so many people go through for a chance at a better life.
My report, "Life and Death on the Border," premieres Monday, November 15 at 9/8c on Current TV.
Watch a preview after the jump.Christof Putzel is a Vanguard correspondent. As part of his investigation into the... more