Border Incident

Here is the All-American Canal.

It runs through the desert for miles

along the California-Mexico border.

A monument to the vision of man,

the canal is the life-giving artery of water...

...that feeds the vast farm empire

of the Imperial Valley of Southern California.

Out of this desert wasteland, man's industry

has made a flourishing garden.

Farming in Imperial Valley

is a great industry.

Here, a single field of prosaic carrots

or lettuce or flax or melons...

...may be worth a half million dollars.

This great agricultural empire is important

to the entire United States.

Nature never waits.

When the crops are ready,

they must be harvested.

This means manpower...

...a vast army of farm workers

who must be available when needed.

And this army of workers comes from

our neighbor to the south, from Mexico.

For the Imperial Valley of California...

...like many other farm areas

of the great Southwest...

...is almost entirely dependent

on Mexican labor.

These workers prepare the land

and harvest the food for our tables.

And so all along the border,

from Texas to California...

...Mexican farm workers...

Braceros, they are called...

...meaning "those who work

with their hands and arms. "

- are waiting on the Mexican side

to be okayed...

...to receive the coveted American

work permits or crossing cards.

Most of these braceros obey

the laws of both countries...

...and wait at the border to enter

the United States legally...

...under the treaty between the Mexican

and American governments.

But there are other braceros who come

and go illegally, who jump the fence.

These Mexican illegal entrants work

in the United States for a while...

...and upon returning to Mexico are often

robbed of their savings by bandits...

...who infest both sides of the border.

It is this problem of human suffering

and injustice about which you should know.

The following composite case

is based upon factual information...

...supplied by the Immigration

and Naturalization Service...

...of the United States

Department of Justice.

These brutal murders

of defenseless braceros...

...the latest of a number

along the border...

...spur two governments

to new and drastic efforts.

From Mexico City come

Colonel Rafael Alvarado...

...a high official in

the Polica Judicial Federal...

...the FBI of Mexico...

...and Pablo Rodriguez,

one of the PJF's foremost investigators.

From Washington come...

...Assistant Commissioner of Immigration

John McReynolds...

...and Inspector Jack Bearnes...

...who has just finished a tour of duty

along the Gulf.

These officials of Mexico

and of the United States...

...arrive for a meeting at

the governor's palace in Mexicali...

...across the border

from the California town of Calexico.

We are not talking

about bloody shirts or torn hats.

We're not talking about that at all.

We are talking about the people

who lived and died in these clothes.

I know that, sir, but if they cross illegally,

what is our responsibility to them?

Most of my people do not cross illegally.

Those who come over with work permits,

we protect.

As a matter of fact, most of the ranchers

on our side obey these work treaties.

They take certified farm workers

and pay them legal wages.

These things we know, but some

of my people, they are not well-educated.

They allow themselves

to be smuggled across.

I know. And some of my people

pay them half wages...

...conceal them from arrest,

make them live in fear...

...and send them back to the desert

to be robbed and killed.

Since these people work together

to break the law...

...we'll work together

to enforce the law.

- You've worked with one another before.

- Of course.

Oh, Pablo here, sure,

we're old friends.

We worked on a case together

in Brownsville, Texas, years ago.

Incidentally, whatever happened

to that very pretty girl?

She was about 20 years old.

The one we picked up in Matamoros?

Oh, yes. The last I heard, she was getting

much less beautiful in prison in Tamaulipas.

- I'm sorry to hear that.

- I know.

Do you wish to continue

with these personal reminiscences?

- This was an awful pretty girl, seor.

- She certainly was.

Captain, tell them your plan.

Well, I intend to become a bracero.

I will appear in Mexicali and be very

impatient to come to the United States.

Now, I can be very impatient,

as you know.

So things will occur...

...and when someone approaches me

to be smuggled over the border...

...why, things will happen.

A fella could get himself killed that way,

couldn't he?

Well, this is one of the less attractive

aspects of the job.

Well, that sounds good.

Now, if Captain Rodriguez will smoke out

that end of the situation, we can...

Well, what I had in mind...

I'll follow Pablo, you see.

And I'll nail down all the contacts

that he makes.

That'll take care of the Mexican side.

As far as the American side...

...if I had some illegal crossing permits

that are numbered...

...wherever they turn up,

we've got a complete case.

And we may be able to knock off

both ends in the same operation.

Its a good plan.

Since the criminals work in a circle,

we will cover the circle.

In case it gets rugged for me,

who's my contact?

Neley, agent in charge of Calexico.

- And if I should get a knife in my back?

- Ill call a doctor for you.

Well, I guess that's it.

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