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A Border Patrol agent watches over illegal immigrants as they cross a Laredo, Texas, international bridge back to Mexico. They were caught crossing the border into the U.S. at Arizona and flown to Laredo. NIKON D1, 14mm f2.8 lens, manual exposure f8 @ 1/250.
Some looked bewildered, not knowing where they were.Hours before, they had crossed from Mexico north into the Arizona desert, hoping to land jobs in factories, field laborers and the service industries in the United States.
Instead, they had been caught by the vigilant Border Patrol, and, under a new program, were being put on airplanes chartered by the U.S. Government and flown to border crossings where large Mexican cities are located on the Rio Grande. On Sept. 18, one such flight landed in Laredo, Texas.
Under guard, the would-be immigrants stepped off the airplane and into busses, which drove them to the international bridge. There, they were walked to the borderline. Once in Mexico, they were debriefed. Some asked welcoming Mexican government officials, "Where are we?" not knowing that they had traveled so far from Arizona. One returnee suggested that they could drive to Los Angeles in three hours, not knowing that they were now 1,400 miles from California.
Some took advantage of a 25 percent discount offered by bus companies to take them home, while others went to a center for refugees in Nuevo Laredo, to consider their options.
Most were out of money.
Above, migrants from many countries find shelter at Casa del Migrante in Nuevo Laredo. Some of those returned to Mexico by the Border Patrol seek shelter here. Nikon D1H, 17-35mm f2.8, ISO 1600, f2.8 @ 1/4.
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| Would-be immigrants are reflected in glass as they line up to be debriefed after returning to Mexico. | The returned line up for food and prepare for the bus trip to their homes in Mexico. |
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©2003 Billy Calzada