[suspensul music [ausn] i'm aittle nes... thinkin'bout my pents' stor

it'll behe firstime i wod-- i'd en on th section rio grae where myarents cssed... in my li. firstime eve ani think 's gonnaonct everhing reay, really wl for me ustin] ie been uh, ver-guidg re on thrio gran r the pa six-ish years. i wanteople tonow what's o here. i wa t love toe shared th is wilderness wild ast gets. t people don't ke heang that. ople lik heing aboua wall. rather tn talkin about puing up aence, why don' work t some rogniti

ofurutual prlems-- make ipossible for em to come herlegally with a wk permit anopen theorder bo ways. were natioof immignts, t we arelso a naon of la ill clinn] that' why our ministraon s moved gressive to securour borders re. ours' a natioof immignts, 're also nation law. eorge w.ush] we have responsility to sece our boers. presidt bush, he sned a bi today authoring the nstructi a fence alg the rder wh mexi. is fence would 700iles lon [upbeamusic] [barack ama] i think t americ people,hey appriate and beeve in immigtion. but th can't he a situatiowhere yojust hav half millioneople pourg over t borde without y kindf meanism controlt.

mplete t dangefence. 'll workhis ti. [hilary clinton]ook, i voted uhnumerousimes en i was senator spend mey to bui a barri to t to prevt , illegaimmigran from cing in. [donaltrump] oday one, will ben workin onn impeneable ysical, ll, poweul, beautil uthern-bder wall [appuse and eering] [upbeamusic] rowd chaing] ild thatall! build at wall! bud that wl! build at wall! builthat wal bud thatall! [dond trump]uild thawall! build th wall!

[benthis who idea got stted a femonthsgo. i was rkin' for me wildle biologts out west tes. and th were deribing toe how a ysical wl uld have me reallserious pact a lot owildlife species alonthe rio ande. and was somhing tha- that i nevereally tught aut, the actu physic entity a wall. ani guess just wand to-- to arn morebout it.

ay] um, -- aughing] [b] on a jrney lik this, u're onlas good as theeam thatou have. and thisroup is azing. [ausn] like that d mess ts up. en] so y-- with rses, yo don'have to place pels. stin alvado a riveruide. henows t river iwest tex like theack of h hand. heather is aornitholist. shstudies rds and buttflies along e rio, and her owlee of just t biodiveity at lge gonnae reallymportant fothe trip uhone seco. yeah. [b] filipeeandrade an increble filmaker. i excted lik- yeah, like t mariachband d great tourage. wooh, at a sta! d it is st like, "alrht, pullp next to the dm trucks we'rdoing th thin" - is halright? [ben] jakleberg,e wos for tes parks and wilife fouation. consvation ihis thin

[ben] thwalls gonna but throh a lot places that are very ne and dear to hiseart. [chrissyshe may walkingy thtime youet back. - [jay] , that'sot a cool thi. - [chrsy] yeah [laughg] [jay] you sure can't jt strap r? i can t her the camback. - no! - , i put little heet on hewith a-- [chrissya littleasket inhe frontf your be. - ah, withoggles. - [dghter] yh, yeah,eah. [chrissyhuckling [ben] ke this ing originated in corado and byhe time hits he, 's tiny,inuscule and thenhe unitestates takepretty mh all oft. so we cat even fat down thuh, the ver righnow, that'shy we'reaking bis whh i'm nothat big fan of, t you kn, lookinforward to t horror retch. - [ptographe alright t in the, nice a ght. - [stin] deghted. - hotograpr] alrig, i thinthat probly got . - alrit. - nail it. - ah. what the lastime u rode aike, file? - [file] me? - ah. this mning. - this mning.

i just hped of noi'm hoin' backn again. right,et's go ke me bad disions. - [benhell, ye! - [filip let's gwith it. arrr! [bacround muc] [benwe arembarki on a,200-miljourney froml paso tohe gulf mexico. en] ridi bicycle wherthere isn't enou water. [ben] tan' my muan throh thbig bend d canoei down thrio gran. [b] tryin'o undersnd ere exacy a wallould g and at effec it woulhave. ♪ i dre i'm in wait, it, waittime out rious qution. ere is gn' to doors inhipotentiawall.

are ere goa be doo like this taccess t rio grae? ke you'lhave to t a key or sething tacc-- . ay. ok, okay [austi wow! [filipe]ai so we a about to ent mexico ght now? en] no, 're justonna rid on t mexico de of thwall, buon the u eather] -man zon [heather it wild beg along e wall toave this masve 25-foot barri. it just els so sarate.

[jaywhile i s workinin el paso, th construed the wl, and th did it like 12 nths. from my perspecte, it wast a real likeh, cry against e constrtion of that fence at t time. t then sce then - ere haveeen peop elected ke congrsman oourke whwas agait thconstrucon of a-a fence. eto] i-- don't think lot of pple the intior of t us undetand at the wl will notiterallye built at the bder, at e internatnal bounry line. it'll beuilt well thin her it's00 yards other aces it'- it's aile, miles , into t interr and erywheret's gonna lo asgly as ts or uglr. [beto] el paso for the last 20 years s been eitherhe safes thsecond-sest or t thd-safestity in arica, whicis reallremarkab, because it is atomplete od with thrhetoric about thborder.

[beto] othe 2,00miles the us-xico borr, i lieve a littlever 600 les have fens, walls ysical briers. [bacround muc] [bo] and tt began afte e 2006 secure fencinact, which publics and decrats, induci senatorobama and clinn at theime, voted fo which eentially allowed the sh admintration, and th cceedingdminisations, to putp ese physal barris anto effecvely ive all vironmenl anlocal akeholders' saguards. [beto] ihink peoe who aren from the bord, this mig make a lot sense tthem lik- so whear the are proems with mexo or immration or dru, yeah, - a big git fence th steelnd concre that-- at makes lot of nse.

whenou live re, you, you obously-- you e it difrently and yofeel it- u feel idiffertly. i ink beina politian anworking , acro the ale, in mt cases r candides, is not rarded atll. they are rewaed for extreme snces. i'm will hd. m the reesentati from the3rd congreional dirict of xas, whicgoesrom the inges of epaso l the wato san aonio. i ha 820 mil of the rder. d i spen ni and a hf years an undeover offer inhe cia. i sit the homela securitcommitte i'vehased baguys all ov the wor, ve chad terrists, i've chad clear weapon prolifetors. i've tr-i'vehased the rcotrafintes. and yolearn th your adversarhas resoces.

theyave umthe commment to dsomethin and ey're-- ey're-- they'r- they'rsmart. th's why y convertion um,n uh-- on immration osecurity hato beginith operional controof our bder. i went tjohn marall high scol, but [indistinct] - ay, um - i'malking about en when weere in-- when wer hi-- ye. i ok my ri off, because viously wajust supsed to. - no, de you g to-- - at are y doing? - nobut like didn't ow-- nobody ee is weang jewel. [wil we can t opational control of o borde we can eorce our laws to give terrence d a consuence tohat negave behavr. ackgrounchatter] [ben] weust got the end of theall for e first me. weeed ou- our n and won inhe bordepatrol tonow exactly wh the thrt is, so ty're nothowing up witno infortion about wh's goingn.

an- and sohat's whgetting the rit tools importa. and-- d i think-- i thk folks ed to reize thatou know,m, th we wannsecu the borr, should ve secureour bord by now. - t's roll yoall-- yoall stargoing. okay, 're goa-- we're goa head bk. [ausn] theres wa-- there'like-- there is canal rht there - weust crosthe cana - [fipe] i'ltake my irt off and ve acros - [jay] i me we coul but uh- - [will]eah. forure, it's supsed to b an aenture, ght? [hther] weould jum throh here, could just sairight f. [will] ts shit ideep. [hther] you knowi can't t my bik- oheah! oh, that's ce. h! ooh! [wl] y'allidn't telle it wasold. - [lghing][heather yee-w, i kno [filipe]ettin' t congresan in a b of pick here. here we . - ilipe] g it. - y want the came or you nt the hd? i'll takyour han - ah.

[heaer] what yeah. - [hther] geing throh. oh yh. your govnment sates you. [laughin -i'm su. i geto my ne pointmenonime. [ling] [song the bacround] [atin] wh-hoo-hoo-hoo! - [j laughin -cheersboys. he well, tonly havg five be malfunions. yeah. [ben] prty good tmeal. glad iet to eathis. is heaer up? [heaer] yeahi'm up. ok.

[austi why? thene need yr experte. there'all thesbirds flyin' aund. [heath] such amazing way to srt the d. justou out tre, listing to t birdson tan' everying in. and 's like such areatime to s all nds of wdlife. eather] i ew up inpstate, w york. wento collegat corne where i udied ecogy. i rked forbout fivyears as a fld biologist. then iursued maste in thbig bend and ll in lo withhe borde onhis trip i'going toe doing asany bi surveys along e route i can f in. myntention is to surveyhese are that nobodhas really sveyed bis before toee what e biodivsity is

befo a potenal rder walis built wh you thi a gh bird versity or jushigh bioversity, yodon't thk of a dert. but it some ofhe highe getationiversityand thereforbird divsity, because you have all ese diffent elevions and you ve the rio grande goi through th creates a comptely difrent habat. if you'rjust cruin' on b yore gonna thi thers not anhing he. buif you jt stop, and ke look ound, anlisten f a littlbit, u reale this pce is ale. [spensefulusic]

en] the o gran the fouh longesriver in nth ameri. it stas in colado, flowthrough w mexico and comes thus-mexicborder for over,200 mil in texas. ere arso many da and divsions that t rio grae runs dryelow el so. anfor near 300 mil, there isittle too water. thforgottereach. [playi the harnica] [heatherwell. [austin] let help yoout withhat. 're fucked 's home.

[filipe] we start ring oubikes, and e ride's in' pret well, anthen outf nowhersnow just srts dump' on us. [wind owing] [ben] m doing - brg the to back ale again. [jay] wo these are me big fkes. e temperure is dpping. [heath] the ros are very quily degrang. yocan rideor a lite while and th the-- the whls just cumulateud. 's stillike spring cditions erywhere [austin unting]

[austi i've ner be scared ay fro- om getti you kno down to busiss and gting it ne. [austigrunti] [atin] butang, at was some seris mud. that waslass fivmud right the. ustin grting some pot, you'reot ridinthe bike thbike is ding you d uh, yore startg touestiothe procs. [file sniffl and kes a de breath] ilipe] this tng is frking hea. aking de breaths

[filip we wakep the next mning, dede ju to dumphe bikes left ousupport ew and we ctinued oby foot. [filipe unting] [fipe] litally, ony knees. what abo inoing to e valley or like in' evenartherp d goin' and ovethis? ishat option? [jay] i ink our ference pot is [indiinct].

[jay] wel just he to go arnd and ce back. ilipe] sry, keepunning. - [filip keep gog. that's i yh. for thfirst ti in thisrip, i mn we're ly a weeinto therip, butoday ishe firstay at we go a alirst hanperspecte what sobody wou ha to go tough they we to crosillelly. ey wouldt be doi it on hseback, they wldn't be dog it on canoe, th wouldn' be doingt on bik - ilipe] ty'd be wking-- - [benfor thremonths. we camover to the ufrom bral when was abo six yea old. i waborn in e countride. i rememberraveling inhe amazo anyou know li being cefree in a way d then we werdisplad from flood

gring up irio de jeiro, we we livingn the mo notoous ghet in the rld ry much the refront drugs, d thcartelnd violee. ything w better in her es. welew over herbecause mom had worker sa. d we camover, me andom, my ster. i thinit was myom's inttion to come er here and eate a n life for me a my sist, thout myad, becaushe was jt a nitmare of human bng. was reay abusivand-- and dicted to drugs, and u know, not e kind operson at she wted to rse her ks. what ion't thi shexpectedas that

he was gng to gerid of all our leg documen. she was fad with a veryifficultecision. go bk torazil, and th try andome backm, other way througimmigratn or jt stay he and fire it ou [file] ultimely that ant for out 14 yrs, wetayed ilgally. there arfour avees or cagories tough whi one can migrate lelly in to e unitedtates. the firsand the st coon is one sed family unificatn wherpreferce is ven tohe immedte familmembers. ictoria]he secon ute is tough employ-based iigration.

the thd is thrgh e refugeor asyleprocess. anthe lastategory throu the versity sa lotte. ifou lk at the pt 10 or years, u see a velling t r about million r year. ere is aap to th. fos don't oo be undomented. wh somebodsays: "getn line", ny timeshere aret lines. eto] e flow omigratioto the u is rlly a fution of ourconomy the funconf economs uhin themericas d it's hisphere, a functi of um, e kind ofiolence d brutaly, vil warsnd death that y find inentral arica that-- tt you ve und off d on in-in mexic thers so a miscception out mexi.

are at t zero u immiation wi mexo, whh means 's not a plusr minus,ight. , most pple willhink tha u know, st of th ilgal immiation is comg from mico. it's not. 's comin fr centralmerica. meco is acally a partner ours in tryin stop illegal migratio becae they a dealing withome of t similarssues their sthern boer. [cicad singi] - [austi wow! wo lookt this! [filipe] it's rht thereman. - [atin] wow - ay] it me me go fast. - [atin] i'mo glad it's pement. -ben] no mud. issing] ustin] i just goa do thi 'cau my kneecan't be. [laughg] [st guitarusic] [benwhen thatrailer pulledn, my het ju li filled th joy.

itymbolize the d of the bicycle which isike the eatest thg that's happed thus r on therip. - [dony braying] -[l laughi] - [indtinct] -hers your hse. - alght, let's do . - ] your hse's me is "dkey dust [laughing] think i'm ready for a w life tether. [lghing] alright,e'll see you. [laughg] [ben] w, i've en fortunatto work ranches and too a lot packed ips all ov the amecan west d then ts is dosaur. [benmy mustas are soood, they knohow to re. he's a butiful mtang. - ye. [ben] knew thewould takeood caref everyby, ich is vy importt, beuse fili... no idea w to rida horse.

ilipe] you ink she' let me ? you ha riding ots. [austin]hat do y need, huh? how do u get on? [ben] ju hop on! [ausn] you kw you t it. [lghing] yeahbuddy! alrit, let'so. [austin] l's go. - help me, hp me getff. - okaycome on. alrit, hold . alrit. no i'm gon ride bearound. co on,en! eather] ve been a horse a haful of tes like t touristsituatio or like birthd rty or sething. i'm noparticully conceed. i trust n's jument. you know whicmaybe i ouldt. [file] let'side! verybodyheerin

[ben] thpart thai was mo excited out was e big be. g bend rch stateark is 3,000 acr. big be ranch nional pa 800,000 acr. combin, it's ts massiv retively uouched hitat. [jay] ancestoof mine, who wa parkand wildfe commiioner back in the '30s a '40s, vited thisountry whenhey wereooking at dignati big bend natnal park anhe was a retively fous rancr. so thas in hislood like he es the ld d he seehow am ionna produce off of that nd. d his coent that theighest anbest useor that nd is f public creation we'rsitting e resuof thalegacy.

it's imptant fore toomplete at circl and try d protec anrea thate saw prising. th's threaned right noby the l. and sof i can do sething to sort protecthat lega, then feel ke thas anmportantart of-- of my fe rightow. [wstng] [b] pay atntion, bs. histling [ben] ros! easytough, ey, easy. [heatheralright, go ead now. en] yeah is is denitely walker. - [b] yeah. [heather carrying lot, ye. 30 mines in adnture mo, gaged. [b] th area is

some othe gnarest, rockiestnastiest terrain ve ever en in. every sile piece of vetation out hereas thorn and stickers a cactu [hther] alght. [heathergood, go. [file] dude,hese musngs are madeor the bkcountry rtunately, all mmustangs th were alborn in e wild public nds in the arican we. [bacround muc] [benth grew upn desola hah landsces like is. ey know w to wal thugh thisountry, they knohow to mnder through e rocks, anstay awafrom theactus, and hoto navige througcliffs and fficulterrain. makes mproud to see my nies takcare ofverybodyo well