Borderland | Episode 3 RECAP

An emotional and physically demanding challenge confronted the cast of Borderland on Sunday’s show, as they attempted to cross into the U.S. ‘migrant style’. The arduous journey came after they met the families of three people who died while trying to make the border trip.

The six cast members had been split up and sent across Central America. But on Sunday, the group reconnected in Arriaga, Mexico where they joined hundreds of other migrants on the roof of  “the beast” – a freight train that runs from southern Mexico north toward the U.S. border, carrying as many as 1500 people a day.

Upon seeing the other group members, Kishana immediately broke down in tears. Meeting the migrants’ families and witnessing the extreme levels of poverty and desperation that led to their desperate journey north has seemingly brought home the realities of immigration for Kishana, though it’s unclear if her opinions have changed completely.

As she prepared for the trip, Kishana meets Brenda and her daughter who will also be riding the train in an attempt to cross the border.

For Kishana, seeing a woman roughly the same age as Claudeth - the deceased migrant who’s family she had spent the last week with - trying to cross the same treacherous desert, and bringing her young daughter with her, is too much to handle.

“Why would you do this? You’re about the same age as someone that we met her family and took the same journey and she never made it to America,” Kishana said, fighting through tears.

The road ahead for her is treacherous. Eighty percent of all migrants will be assaulted, 60 percent of women will be raped and only 40 percent of all migrants will actually make it to the border. 

Women buy contraceptive injections before boarding the train, accepting that rape is likely something they will experience as they try to make it to America.

Sobbing, Kishana tries to warn Brenda of the dangers that lie ahead, and encourages her to turn back if the trip becomes too hard.

“I’ve been in that desert, and I couldn’t make it an hour. And I just can’t see a child walking through it, I can’t see it. But please, if you feel tired just stop, there are people there that can help you.”

Gary and Alison run into 14-year-old William who is trying to cross the border alone to reunite with his mother. It is a familiar story to Gary and Alison. Last week the pair learned about 13-year-old Omar, who died in the desert with his elderly chaperone Donna Teresa trying to join his mother in the U.S.  

In 2012, Border Patrol apprehended around 25,000 unaccompanied children as they attempted to cross the border.

As William tells Alison and Gary his story, it’s clear that taking the dangerous trip is the lesser of two evils: he can either try to make it to America on his own where he could be arrested and sent back or die in the desert, or he can stay in El Salvador and be forced into joining one of the many gangs in his town – a prospect that could see him killed in gang violence.

Gary starts to tell William what happened to Omar, but he stops when he “sees the fear” in William’s eyes. He knows his chances are slim.

“Just be careful. Be very careful,” Gary said.

Early the next morning, the group falls in line with the migrants and scampers up the ladders to claim a seat on top of the many train cars. It only takes a few minutes for the cast to really understand the danger they face.

One wrong move and they could fall off the train, or onto the tracks only to be run over by the wheels. They must constantly duck under tree branches, as the train sways back and forth, shaking them up. There’s also the risk of dehydration or heat exhaustion.

The group disembarks as the train continues on its path, headed for the border with hundreds of people on top.

Reflecting on what they’ve seen so far, and after enduring hours on the train in extreme heat, even Randy ‑ who has hitherto been an opponent of immigration — has a change of opinion.

“I’m really pissed off at this system that creates this. It’s not just the United States, it’s not just Mexico, it’s not just El Salvador. It’s this entire system that has been created where people are the pawns,” he says, clearly emotional over what he’s seen.

“My heart is breaking for these people.”

They went on to spend the night in a shelter, helping prepare food, pass out laundry and body soap, and register new arrivals so there is some sort of record in case a migrant dies along the way to the U.S. Authorities use that information to identify the remains they find.

The next morning, the group heads to Culiacan, Sinaloa where they experience first-hand the other side of the immigration debate: drug trafficking. Accompanied by the Mexican military, the group helps to rip up an extremely sophisticated marijuana plantation.

Migrants who come through this area have to deal with the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, and they are often forced to ferry drugs across the border on their backs if they want to survive.

Gary, a farmer from Washington state, notes that the techniques being used in the field are more advanced than what he uses on his farm in the U.S.

After a harrowing journey and an up-close look at the real scale of drug trafficking, the group is finally near the end of their trip.