country. full of people just looking to be a part of the evolution of this nation and not forgotten because of it. ♪ when i was a kid, there were two countries, east germany and west germany. they were divided by a wall. they realized the wall was dumb, they tore it down, and now, they're one. the great wall of china was built to keep out western civilization. how is that working out? point is walls suck. on this episode of "united states of america" we're talking about the u.s./mexico border. we're going to talk to people who live on this side of the wall, live on that side of the wall. who wants to talk? you know what? we should just book people the way we normally do. this is not going to work.

sorry about that. my name is w.kamau bell. as a comedian, i made a living finding humor in parts of america i don't understand. now, i'm challenging myself to dig deeper. i'm on a mission to see the colors and belief that add to this country. this is "the united shades of america." let's get some things straight. there's things that are real and things that are imaginary. things that are real are observable, and predictable, like gravity, like climate change. that kneeling for the national anthem doesn't mean you hate the troops. and that hot doughnuts taste better than cold doughnuts. that's science. there's things that are imaginary, like borders. think about it. borders are pretend lines drawn on the earth by men, and i mean by men, as a way to divide up land.

and sometimes the borders don't make any sense. like this town. it's divided into 30 parcels in a 3-square mile radius between belgium and the netherlands. big shoutout to all my viewers there, though. we need to recognize the temporal nature of borders. for example, the u.s./mexico border. people act like it's been around since the dinosaurs, it's only been settled since 1970. but despite the fact that the border and the attitudes toward the border have shifted throughout history, many act like it's an eternal problem. but president trump has a way to solve it. >> we need the wall. we're going to build the wall. we will build the wall. it will be built. don't even think about it. don't waste your breath. >> oh, yes, the wall. why does he want that wall so bad again? >> when mexico sends its people -- >> no.

in on -- no. no. no. no. not going to listen to that on my show. and the ridiculous thing is that our relationship with mexico is actually pretty good. we haven't been at war for more than 150 years. if you want to get rid of undocumented americans you're getting rid of people like this. >> tens of thousands dreamers making an impact in the wake of hurricane harvey, like this paramedic. he worked six days straight, rescuing flood victims. >> don't we want more people like that? i want to find out what's going on at the border. i'm heading to nogales, arizona, and nogales, mexico. conjoined twin cities. separated by an international border. first, i'm going to see what people on the u.s. side think about this. what's your name, sir? tell us about nogales, arizona. >> it's gone. the way i grew up here, it's gone. i got family both sides. my mother was born over here. my father, over there. >> those days, it was easier to go back and forth.

>> yeah, not anymore. after 9/11, crossing over was not as easy. businesses are dying. now it's empty. >> you see the lot of the businesses are closed. >> oh, yeah. the economy is terrible here. not a lot of stuff to do. >> so you think it should be easier to go back and forth? >> yeah, that will help. i live here and i have a restaurant over there. >> you have a restaurant over there? >> what kind of food? >> mexican food. margarita, tequila is on me. >> what is it called? >> leo's cafeteria. it's on facebook. >> check out leo's cafeteria. it's on facebook. you're all invited. >> i know these people. >> he's right. bring anderson cooper. >> oh, now we have to bring inner arouin er -- we have to bring anderson cooper. we're in downtown nogales, arizona, in the middle of the day. but it feels like it could be the middle of the night.

and now, i'm going to say something i don't usually say, it's not all president trump's fault. questionable border policies is not just a trump thing. it's a u.s. president thing. from teddy roosevelt's mounted watchmen, to official border patrol under calvin coolidge, to the nasty deportation wave called "operation wetback." yep, it was called "operation wetback." to clinton who passed nafta. and operation gate-keeper that built walls and further militarized the border. to george w.'s homeland security and our current wall, president after president, keeps devoting our taxpayer dollars to tighten the border. and again, we have not been at war with this country since 1848. so presidential policy seems a good place to start. and there's no one that i trust to talk about this more than my friend.

fabiana rodriguez. she is an artist, organizer and activist that i have respect for. her organization creates artist events for border change. back in 2011, i attended one of their evens at the border. see? there i am right there. and we are reuniting in nearby bisby, arizona. >> well, thank you 54 -- thank you for coming down to arizona. >> it's been like six years. >> one of the first things i ever seen, was an artistic depiction of president obama. and under him or over him were the words, deporter in chief. i was like, hey, obama was the best. everything he does. some people on the left like to always demonize the bad policies come from the right. >> oh, hell, no. yeah. no. that's -- i mean, obama had taken office in 2008. it helped build the deportation apparatus that trump is using now. he implemented programs, that was secure communities. and said that local communities had to share their data with

i.c.e. so, he really grew the entire system. as a result, you saw deportations at the highest they had ever been for any president. we are talking rates that over 1,000 a day. about 2 million people. >> wow. >> yeah. >> why is it that people who are anti-immigration, why don't they see these as families who need help? like people in their families need help? >> i think words and language create unconscious bias. i mean, symbols, imaginary. in the 90s, i remember watching tv and seeing the commercials that say, invasion. >> they keep coming, 2 million illegal immigrants, in to california. you see people running and the symbol at the border is a powerful symbol, creating an lasting anti-immigrant wave. >> now, let's talk about the wall, physical, as an artist, how you see it. what are your thoughts when you

hear of them talk about building a bigger wall. a powerful wall. >> as a metaphor or a story, it's extremely compelling. the president is a straight-up performance artist. he is a really powerful story teller. he is speaking to people's fear. the story is very compelling. >> he's like an artist. reality doesn't matter. he is just painting the canvas. >> it's fiction and it's imagined. for artists, our time is really now, we need the metaphors for the future. and artists, that's what we do. we create new symbols. it's the power of culture. artists have a big role to play there. and that's our superpower. >> yes. you know? >> yeah, yeah. >> i knew i would get the bay area hippie liberal leftist. bay area. >> that's right. that's right. tely not paying an annual fee. discover has no annual fees. really? yeah. we just don't believe in them. oh nice. you would not believe how long i've been rehearsing that.

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to keep it running. the people who understand no matter what the question, the obstacle or the challenge, there's only one answer... let's do the work. (engine starts, hums) let's do the work. (music throughout) ♪ this morning, i'm headed to the mexico side of nogales. and if you need an example of how mexico views americans

coming to their country -- here it is. yup, i'm just walking in. harder to get on the subway. >> where are you from. >> i'm from tijuana spanish ranch. >> let's try spanish. >> so you're from sonora, mexico. >> where do you live now? >> here? better than i thought. >> your getting it. >> i'm getting it. >> what are you doing today? >> we should go back to english. i heard you work. that's all i got. [ speaking foreign language ] >> oh. so it's -- it's true that american citizens can come to mexico and buy pharmaceutical drugs without a prescription?

[ speaking foreign language ] >> what about cialis? >> cialis, no probleme. >> i'm just asking for a friend. >> okay. >> for a guy i know, yeah. is safe in this town? >> it's a safe place, yes. >> do you think this wall will make it more or less safe? make a difference. >> less safe because more restriction. the more restriction on people, the more rebellion. >> the more rebellion. >> simple as that. what is that saying do you know what it's saying? >> oh, it's a supermarket. >> i thought it was some sort of like -- the revolution is coming. time to rise up, brothers and sisters. we're going to take down that wall. this is about melons and cucumbers. if you could say something to president trump right now what would you say? you can look right that and talk to president trump.

>> mr. trump with all due respect we are not thieves. we are not delinquents. we are people who work and know how to work because we want to help our country. and we're not asking for anything. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you. >> thank you very much. bye. >> i'll see you later for some cialis. >> nogales, mexico, is different than nogales, arizona. i'm like 200 foot from when i talked to erman, but the energy is completely different. this is vibrant and fun we could use some of this on the american side. too bad this wall is in the way. just a reminder there is already

a wall which somehow many people seem to not know. here a segment i like to call get to know your border wall. this $3 million manifestation of fear stoked by congress. is made of on concrete barriers, steel beams, and double layer fencing and beaches fit for the beach of normandy. at over of 650 miles it runs from california to texas with the most continuous section along arizona, that don't have a wall and they don't have a wall because it's pretty much impossible to build a wall on because of a river. just science. but for the current president, it's not enough. while a future of the new wall changes every day, construction of prototypes too place in san diego, to look at the structure, both structurally and ethicity i canal -- and ethically, i'm

talking about it. let's talk about the idea where the nation is right now, where there's a lot of talk about the trump wall, you know? it's not connected to any sort of current reality. >> right, yeah. there were two proposals put out eight prototypes were chosen. the teams were given 30 days to build a 30-foot long and ostensibly 30-foot high wall. >> the way you describe it it makes sense. he hosted one reality show. this is back door pitch for another reality show. >> six teams, 30 days. to build the wall. welcome to "america's got talent but it's wasting it building this wall." so let's talk about this -- is that -- the noise of the loudspeaker. >> yeah it's funny as we sit here talking about this -- this border and this wall, like i can -- we can hear the sounds of life there. in any other situation it's like we'd walk over and see what

happens. the man is selling ice cream. let's check it out the. >> you question the nature of the nation state itself. >> is that what i'm doing? i just want some ice cream. so now let's talk about the other piece of this. >> yes. >> every president has a moment should i do this or is this the right thing. no matter what field you are is this the right thing or hurt people. >> that's a complicated question. >> great. >> we that's what we do on this show. >> well, so every professional society has a code of ethics. like the first canon is about engineers holding paramount the safety health and welfare of the public. but it's really hard to define what those words mean. what -- you know, what public are we talking about? whose health are we talking about? what does safety actually mean? engineers i feel and firms need to be equipped at least

contextually answer those kinds of questions. i mean, from an ethical and moral standpoint i don't think something like this should be done. for now, in may be politically necessary or something like that. but say it takes three or four, five six years to build something like this and the politics of the situation have changed. then what with? like this is there for a long time. >> they will help to define who we are as a country. >> this isn't a tea cup this isn't something that can be gotten rid of. a whole other part of this is there are parts of the border where the infrastructure to build it doesn't exist. you need to make the roads to go there. how do you set up camps tor the workers there? there are all the other infrastructural questions to build it. >> the other thing we're talking about the engineers really talking about the engineers on this side. there is a bunch of people over there who maybe have engineers degrees no matter what you put up they're going to be like everybody gets together on work on this.

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with all the talk about the wall, we sometimes forget that there are real people whose jobs are to prevent undocumented border crossings. for many americans, myself

included, border patrol has earned its as bad a reputation with migrants as police have earned with people of color. the two agents i'm talking to are mexican americans. >> how floor are you with the office of the border patrol? >> meet a couple of nice guys, but then of course border patrol isn't going to send me the jerks. >> when people are going over the wall, are most of those people trying to smuggle drugs or are they just trying to get here? >> that's the thing. you don't know. there's not a magic device that i can point at somebody and say okay, he wants to come over and work over here. he wants to come over and provide for his family. he wants to come over to commit crimes against our citizens. >> i think that's the biggest thing most people miss: we're not anti-immigration. we want people to come in through the front door. we're all products of immigration ourselves. >> i would imagine there's maybe some friends or family or people in your community that wouldn't

be happy with the fact that you have become border agents? >> i actually arrested an individual, she asked me how can you do what you do when you're a mexican? first and foremost, i am an american. second of all you hear about those people dying in the desert. they died because i didn't arrest them, yai didn't catch them. every arrest i make is a rescue. as we're going up you see rust, right? at the same time you can see footprints and hand prints across the fence right here. >> this area actually here is a different color. the rust color is the natural color of the fence, the hand oils, the dirt changes the color of the tube. >> we know they can cross it. this is just what we utilize to go ahead and give an additional amount of time. >> there's not necessarily a wall that could be built where you'd be like that's all we need? >> no. >> no. i wish it was that easy.

people want like a magic silver bullet, and there is none. >> come on up. >> all right. >> so now we're talking about a more rural, remote area. from here it's going to take hours to days. you can feel the heat on you, so you can just imagine what they have to go through. they're being told it's going to be a short walk. in reality your typical trip will take three to five days depending on who you're working with. >> that's the trip once you get on this side? >> that's the trip once you get on this side. >> temperatures here can reach well over 100 degrees. combine that with a mountain pass over 3,800 feet, add a liberal amount of snakes, scorpions, coyotes and wildcats and you've got an obstacle course that can turn deadly at any given step. >> here we are. this is the end of the infrastructure that we have in place. it doesn't actually span the whole border, at least not yet. that's what the border used to look like right there. >> right there?

>> those sticks and that barbed wire fence. >> you know what you're walking on? that's a trail. if you look ahead, it's started growing back, but this used to be an actual trail where immigrants were walking through. >> not that long ago. somebody ate candy here recently. >> oh, look at that. >> still kind of fresh. >> you can see inside that candy. you just smelled to find out how fresh that candy is. i think people at home are going like, see, this is why we need to build a bigger -- you know, this is why this is -- i'm quoting. >> i understand. air quotes. >> this is not a hard thing to get over, then you got to go through this. >> exactly. >> that's the dangerous part. right over there in the distance, what's that? that's our tower. even though he thinks he's not being seen, we're watching him. they probably saw you wave. >> where's my passport? it's with you. it's all right. out here it's low tech to high-tech with a digital wall made of 8,000 cameras, 11,000

underground sensors, 107 aircrafts including drones, a blimp and other repurposed military gear used in afghanistan and iraq. so then what's a taller wall going to do exactly? >> we're glad that you decided to come and talk to us so people can understand what kind of service we're doing for them. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, sir. >> i've got to be honest, i'm always hesitant in these situations. these two officers seem like good guys. they clearly believe they're helping people. i had fun, but these officers over here are also border patrol, and a couple of months after we were there this video came out showing border patrol officers that i hadn't met destroying water supplies left by activists who were trying to help people not die. >> a good shot, picking up this trash somebody left on the trail. >> while the agency released a statement saying they don't condone these actions, we all know there are still border patrol agents out there like this and like this, but which

are there more of? it's hard to know. but there's no question that the water was there to save lives, and if anybody knows what happens to people out there when they don't have enough water, it's dr. bruce anderson, a medical examiner for pima county, arizona. >> so tell me where we're at. >> we're in the receiving room, and what we receive here, of course, are decedents, everything from a dead body to a single bone, which could be found out in the desert. but all of those deceased people come in this back door. >> just to be clear, this is not just for people at the border. this is for anybody in this county? >> everybody. the vast majority come in here with a name, there's no question about their identification, but the migrants, foreign nationals who die outside in very harsh conditions, that's not true. might be mexican citizens, central american citizens. we've had 2,800 such deaths over the last 18 years. we've identified about 1,800. that leaves us about a thousand that are currently unidentified.

>> so i hear you using words like migrant and foreign national. you seem to be pretty purposeful with those words. those are not the words we a lot of times on tv hear. >> most of them were migrating trying to get from mexico to arizona or any other state in this country for a job. a few were smugglers. the vast majority seem to be from what we learn from the identified people to be migrants who were going to do these blue collar jobs. >> so we're going to go in here now? >> this is the cooler. this is where we keep all the remains before our autopsy. >> so the first thing i noticed is the smell. is that the smell of -- that's the smell of the people? >> it's a decomposition odor, yeah. yeah, there must be 50 or 70 bodies here, and they're all unidentified, so they will be released and either buried and cremated as john doe or jane doe. >> and their families will never

know what their end was? >> the vast majority of these folks shouldn't be dead: they're in the pram of their lives. they're 20 to 30. they wouldn't be dead except they crossed a dangerous desert. >> at what i would define at a stupid point in american history. >> for the unidentified, the journey back to their families begins with dr. robin reineke. her organization works to reconnect families with their misses loved ones using the few belongings left when their remains were discovered. >> this is a kind of typical case. there is an i.d. card here, so that's a strong clue but a lot of times people will carry a false i.d. card or the chaos of the crossing they'll mix up i.d. cards. >> just because there's an i.d. card does not mean it's this person. >> exactly. they're clues. they can help tell a story. they can help the family to heal. they can help the fact to connect to something when they're given skeletal remains

back and said this is your son. a woman was carrying a spanish english dictionary and she had a little sheet where she was practicing english, and she was rehearsing my name is, i'm from. >> preparing for a new life. >> you could feel that sense of hope. >> yes. >> what do you think when you hear people talk about the wall? >> we have a wall already. it's an irresponsible, inhumane policy. if you look at the data, 1990 through 1999 this office saw an average of 19 fatalities believed to be migrants. from the year 2000 through the present, that average jumps up to 175 per year. >> wow. >> that's like a medium-sized plane crash every year in southern arizona. these are special individual irreplaceable human lives. for example, we just notified the daughter of a woman who had been missing since 2001,

esperanza. her daughter said it's my birthday today. this is the best birthday gift for me because i get to reclaim my mom's story and to know how it ended and to have her mom's body to be able to mourn. >> oh, wow. >> we believe our duty is for healing and for justice, and also a messenger, hopefully to other americans to be ready to speak out against this and to contest this. this isn't who we are to allow thousands of people to lose their lives in the desert every year. >> i mean, it's on a very basic level to me it feels just un-american. >> yeah. yeah. sprint unlimited.

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along the border, our policies don't just affect the people we're trying to keep out. they also affect americans. this is betty lynch and her son jason. they felt the changes in border policy right there in their own backyard in bisby, arizona. >> how much land is yours? >> i've got 111 acres. the house is kind of in the middle so i don't have to deal with neighbors. >> so you can have some privacy. >> well, privacy is a thing of the past, though. >> why do you say that? >> well, the border, it used to be serene, peaceful.

mexican cows would come across the line, and mexican cowboys would come and get them, and you know, i'd give them a cup of coffee or a coke. no big deal. >> what years was this? >> this was late '70s, early '80s. when i moved here, there were four border patrol agents in this station. now there's over 1,200. >> whoa. >> that's too many border patrol agents. >> they're not kidding about the rise in security. in 1992 there were just over 3,500 agents along the southwest border. in 2017 there were over 16,000, and they're still hiring. >> and so guess where they put their wall, right behind my property. >> you hear president trump talking about we need a bigger wall, like a 30 foot high wall. what do you think about that? i'm not in favor of it. i don't like it. it doesn't make me feel any safer. >> do you feel safer, that's the real question, right? >> we're not afraid. >> let that sink in. these are white people who live

on the border who don't want the wall. >> over the years we'll get some crossers. if they approach my house, it's only because they need help. >> we've had illegal aliens tell us when the coyote drops them off they think like oklahoma is two miles that way. they have no idea where they are. >> i had six young men one time that came with a little piece of paper, and it said cleveland, ohio, and their coyote told them if they walked that direction for two days, they'll be in cleveland. >> oh, my god. >> they're just people, lost people looking for something better. >> this is what people in washington, d.c. are afraid of. people that for some reason are always the one in front of the cnn cameras. >> look at this, look who put you in front of the cnn cameras. >> here we go. here's a helicopter. >> wow, it's really close. >> sometimes shooting a tv show just works out because here we

are having a conversation about there being too much security, and what do you know? we're interrupted by too much security. sponsored by your wasted tax dollars. >> they're totally circling us. >> he's checking you out. >> i've been called a bad hombre. >> let's be clear, of course there's crime at the border. there's crime everywhere in america. that's kind of one of our things, but crime on the border can be unlike anywhere else, like check this quaint little house in nogales, arizona. >> there's something about this house that's pretty interesting. >> yes, it's called the tunnel house, la casa tunnel: the longest tunnel ever found, the exit is here in my basement, and it's from el chapo's cartel. >> part of life on the border means you can rent a house that features a patched over underground drug tunnel. there's around 100 tunnels in

nogales alone, but this one was operated by el chapo. >> the dangerous drug lord el chapo. >> if you're looking at border real estate, be sure to ask your agent if any international drug lords owned it first. maybe you'll get a discount. >> so it's just back this way? >> yes, back this way. >> oh, so right there? >> right there, yes. >> this part that clearly looks covered. when did they tell you or did you already know this was el chapo's? >> nobody told me. i googled the address to see it on google maps, and i saw these newspaper articles that it was called the tunnel house. i had rented the tunnel house. >> so you didn't know? >> no, i didn't know. >> wow. >> there's strange things in this house. >> you ever think you were going to sort of walk on a wall and a door will open and drugs will fall out or something? >> yes. >> have you ever found anything? >> no. okay. >> you are a stronger person than i am. or a crazier person than i am to

live in el chapo's tunnel house.

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mexico. the keyo border initiative, and a meeting with one of its leaders father shawn carroll. >> tell me where i'm at right now. >> this is a place where we provide two meals a day, mostly to deportees. >> this is their first sort of welcome back to mexico? >> it really is essentially. we provide food, clothing. this is critical work on the border. >> are there people who are coming here who have been in the states for years? >> yes, we're seeing an increasing number of people who have been living in the united states for a long time in comparison to last year. >> some people thought their life was set up there, and then suddenly they're deported and they find themselves in this room. >> sometimes almost overnight. >> since trump took office, no agency in america has had a greater impact on migrants' lives than immigration and customs enforcement, aka i.c.e., with arrests up 25% in 2017.

the trump administration has essentially made it so any undocumented immigrants in america today are vulnerable to arrest. this empowerment has seen i.c.e. raid would be safe spaces like family homes, churches, sanctuary cities and even 7-elevens, and it seems like the true fallout is hardworking families being ripped apart like this one. >> no one should ever go through the pain of having their mom taken away from them. >> or this one. >> why do you want to take my brothers away from my family? why? >> or this one. >> it's just so hard. they just pull you away. you can't even say bye to anybody. >> or this one. >> my dad was detained in front of me on my way to school. it was the hardest thing to watch, but i still went to school because my father showed me the importance of education. >> now stories like this seem to be happening every day because they are happening every day.

>> i.c.e. picks you up, suddenly you're back in mexico. i would imagine at some point you're stuck with what do i do next. >> we have people who grew up in the united states, and so for some of them they're really in a foreign country. >> as an american, what do you feel when you're doing the work down here? >> i don't think our current immigration policies reflect who we are as a country and who we want to be as a country, and that's sad. >> the thing that i find is the american thing to do would be to give people access to opportunity, family, and community. >> and that's certainly something we're promoting. >> my wife's going to be very happy that i ran into a jesuit. every time i talk to a jesuit, i'm like maybe i could be a catholic. >> after talking with father shawn, i wanted to get involved. i wanted to hear the stories of the people i helped serve. the crowd is a mix of people who had been living in the u.s. for a while and others who were there for just a few days.

>> on tuesday. we got here last night. this is cecilia. for people like her with no prior record and arrested at the border, she was sent to a u.s. federal court and given a choice. plead guilty to a petty misdemeanor for unlawful entry and most likely get deported immediately or risk sitting in jail for months awaiting a trial. what do you think she chose? >> what was the trip like to the border? >> cecilia's plan was to cross the border, find work, save money, and return to mexico and open a business. she had no plans to stay. >> did you try to figure out if there was a legal way to go to america? >> hearing about what cecilia

went through gives me the opportunity to point out there's no easy way for immigrants to enter or work in the u.s. first, on top of a passport, a visa is required, which takes heavy documentation, money, an interview and several weeks if not months with no guarantee. let's say you do all that, you get in and want to work, only 66,000 immigrants from all countries are allowed to obtain seasonal work visas outside of farm labor each year. most importantly access is limited to employers who take the steps to prove an american can't or won't fill the positions, which inherently means immigrants aren't taking american jobs. >> what is your plan now? in the u.s.? i'm not sure, so i don't think

it's worth it, no. it's just not worth it, so i'm going to have to wait. >> gracias. thank you. >> thank you. cecilia's story was hard to hear, and i was super thankful to my producer vanessa sanchez who encouraged her to talk to me. as we were wrapping up, the two of them were clearly having a moment. later i pulled vanessa out from behind the camera so she could tell me what was going on. >> could you tell me what was going on there? >> she came over to me, and she said that i reminded her of her sister and her sister has her daughter in the states. she told me that her daughter gave her this bracelet when they were separated and told her that she would give it back to her when they're together, and she wanted me to have it to thank me for what i'm doing, and it just really touched me because i am a

generation latina. my parents migrated to this country in 1981 when they were 15 years old. only one time did they ever actually speak about the journey, and it was something out of a movie. my parents walked, swam, ran, jumped, hid in the walls of a truck to get over here, so not until now do i, like, see it, and i just want to run home and give them a hug and say sorry. >> why say sorry? >> because i was so bad when i was a teenager. i was just so bad and, you know, they did everything for me, you know, for me to have the potential to be where i'm at now. and i will have this forever. forever. >> it's the least you could do after being such a bad kid. you were such a bad kid. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. 's grillet in front of you,

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completely lost in the u.s. mexico wall hysteria is a once know maddic indigenous tribe. they have been more avffected than anybody else.

the border literally split their land in two with parts of their people and property on different sides. so for my final stop i'm meeting with the tribe's chairman and the vice chairmanverlon m. jose on the american side of the reservation. >> thank you for letting us come here today. it's beautiful out here. >> that's why we live here. >> that makes sense. >> why not live where it's beautiful. i read that in your nation's language, there's not a word for wall. is that true? >> that's correct. a creator never gave us boundaries. we were know mnomadic. >> we never cross the border. the border crossed us. >> talk about how long your people have been in this area of the world. >> we've been here since time of memorial. it's just the place the creator has put us. the creator has not given us borders. >> time and memorial is a very, very long time.

>> when time started you were here? >> yes, yes. >> we're a federally recognized tribe, and our enrollment has about 34,000 with approximately 2,000 of them live in what is now mexico. we traversed this what we call invisible border international boundary daily, you know, for domestic, religious, and ceremonial purposes. >> what are your thoughts on suddenly someone says this is the border. if you're on this side, then you are with these people, and if you're on this side, you are with these people? >> yeah, when i first toured the border, i noticed that there was a house on the u.s. side and the mexican side. they've got to go four miles to the north to get the water from the well and haul it back to their house. there's no plumbing. we've got to go to the well and pump it into the barrels and take it back home. >> it's silly when you hear that. it seems ridiculous. >> if they put up that wall,

then it's really going to make it difficult for us. now we have to go around, we have to drive two hours just to get to the port of entry. >> so instead of just going straight through, you have to drive two hours to get around. >> the federal government is wanting to put this on us. it is to say they will put another slice through our heart again. we welcome the trump administration to sit down at the table and let's talk. i will walk the 62 miles with them if he walks with me on that border. >> i believe you would walk the 62 miles. i don't know if i believe he's going to walk the 62 miles. maybe he'll roll next to you on a golf cart. >> probably, yeah. >> thank you for your interest on coming here. >> absolutely. >> and meeting with us. >> again, this idea of borders and walls is ridiculous. we're too good for this. here's the first people of this land, and they didn't even have a word for wall, but it's clear our current border policies do

need to change because too often there's a tragic human cost. well, the people i talked to, many of whom live on the border, have some ideas. >> what i would do is i would make it so that the borders would be porous so that we could really get to experience and connect and really see what happens when communities can work together to build a future. >> do a background check, let them in here. give them the job that they want. that would then free up border patrol to chase after the guys that are smuggling guns and drugs and money. >> when you focus on a group, when you provide them the resources, they will succeed. why don't we start with some of those things. if we really want to be the true melting pot and the american dream, that's the dream that i'm looking for. >> damn straight.

you should know the whole idea behind this show is it's a show where a black guy goes either places he shouldn't go or you wouldn't expect him to go, and we're like where should we go? i was like maybe i should go talk to the ku klux klan. that was their reaction. that was exactly, and then it got quiet for a long time. but i could tell it was that kind of quiet where they were like that might be good for ratings, but might die, but that might be really good for ratings. when i pitched the cku klux kla idea i didn't think they'd let me do it