The monumental divide

PIC: A slipper made of carpet fabric, used to wrap migrants shoes to hide foot tracks, laying next to the border fence outside Lukeville, Arizona, on the US/Mexico border. (AFP)

With debate raging in the United States and Mexico over President Donald Trump's plan to build a wall along the nations' border, AFP photographers decided to take a closer look. So they drove the  nearly 1,750 miles along the border and photographed what they saw, with Washington-based Jim Watson on the US side and Tijuana-based Guillermo Arias and Mexico City-based Yuri Cortez on the Mexican side.

They found drug cartel-inspired fear on the Mexican side, an eerie quiet on the other. Endless desert and farmland stretching to the horizon. Signs of migrants, but, aside from one woman with a baby, none in sight. They saw Americans crossing into Mexico for cheap medical care and medicine and Mexicans crossing into the US to labor on farms. Teenagers recording music by the river. People deported from the US who lived close to the border because their families remained on the other side. One guy walking along the highway with his dog was thinking of not stopping until the east coast.

They found much apprehension about the proposed wall on both sides of the border. And at times an imposing fence and barriers snaking along much of the frontier.

Below is a condensed version of a blog that they wrote on the experience. The full, multimedia version can be found here: http://u.afp.com/4xDg

FROM THE US SIDE: AN EERIE DEAD ZONE WITH FEW SOULS IN SIGHT

By Jim Watson

EL PASO, Texas, US - From everything I had read and heard about the US/Mexico frontier, I envisioned this porous border area where illegals were going across by the dozen all the time. I thought I was going to see people running across on a daily basis. In my 10 days there, I didn't see a single illegal.

In fact, I didn't see much of anyone. (Except for one guy with his dog who decided to walk from Texas to California and back pulling a wagon, but more on him later).

One of the things that struck me about our side of the border is how eerily quiet it was. It was like a dead zone, there's nobody there. I had a few days when I didn't talk to anyone. In the end, it turned out to be a pretty lonely assignment.

I got the idea for this story because I had no precise idea of what the border between the two countries looked like. Most Americans don't. I didn't realize how much of a border barrier we have already. Across much of the frontier, it's a rolling fence and the expanse of it already is amazing. People talk like there is nothing there, but a significant amount of the border is sealed off. Especially around the major population centers.

Walking in their shoes

At one moment during the trip, I glimpsed a bit of the desperation that drives people to cross. It was during day three and I had just got to the Imperial Dunes. It was about a mile from the road to the border fence, where there was a construction crew doing some work. I thought it would make some nice pictures, so I walked out there.

Going out, I stayed in the tracks of the heavy machinery, but even so, my feet were sinking into the sand. Once I shot my pictures, I turned around to walk back to my rental car. The walk back was worse -- my feet sank about six inches with every step, I was drenched in sweat and I had forgotten my water in the car.

And that's when it hit me -- this is what it must be like for a migrant, I thought. All I had was two cameras, while many of them would be carrying children and their belongings. I had just hiked for two miles, while they had to walk across the unforgiving desert for so much more. I knew that my water bottle was waiting for me in the rental car; they didn't know where their next water would come from.

How could anyone want to do this, I thought to myself. They must be mad or completely desperate. No-one would do this just to do it, they really have to have a good reason and that should count for something. You could say that I walked a mile in their shoes. Almost...

The other thing that struck me were the migrant workers. I talked to some of them as they were getting off the bus in San Luis, Arizona. One guy told me that he woke up every day at 2 am, crossed the border, got in line by 4 am to get onto a bus to be taken to work, mainly on lettuce farms. He works for 10 hours a day, for 10 dollars an hour. He returns to the parking lot around 5 pm, walks a half mile back to the port of entry and back to his home in Mexico around 8-9 pm. And he does this every single day. Can you imagine this type of life? It's just insane.

One of the strangest encounters that I had on the trip was Chris Kirkland, a self-proclaimed nomad. I spotted him walking down the highway pulling a wagon with his dog in New Mexico. He told me that he had walked from Dallas, Texas to San Diego, California and was now on his way back to Dallas, but could keep going to the east coast. When I asked him why, he said he just felt like walking for his health. (It reminded me of the Forrest Gump movie, when Gump said that he just felt like running, so he ran across the country). Chris was a very jolly guy and talked about surviving lightning storms and rain and heat waves, all the while camping with his dog.

Outside of major population centers the border is very secure. But there's definitely holes and gaps and obviously people do cross, even though I didn't happen to see any.

From what I could see after talking to the people on the ground, a border fence is not really needed to keep out illegal immigrants, but more for keeping out the drugs. The barrier slows down the contraband crossing the border and funnels it to locations -- the gaps in the fence -- where Border Patrol can reinforce their presence.

FROM THE MEXICAN SIDE: TREADING SOFTLY ALONG THE DEATH LINE

By Guillermo Arias and Yuri Cortez

NOGALES, Mexico -- Yuri: When we first talked about doing the project, I thought that I would drive along the Mexican side the whole way. But I quickly realized that this would not be such a great idea. The security situation is so dangerous on the Mexican side of the border that you need someone who knows the area. That's when I decided to bring in Guillermo. He has been living and working along the border for years, so he both knows the terrain and has contacts there. Plus he's a great photographer. And I would join him toward the end of the trip.

Guillermo: I have been living and working on the border for 14 years and am just finishing a book on the issue, so I know the border, I'd been to most of those places.

The most challenging aspect for work on the Mexican side is the security of course. The drug cartels control most of the area and some territories are very disputed. They have eyes and ears everywhere. When they see someone taking pictures, they get very nervous. You have to be careful about what you are doing.

Careful as you go

Yuri: When you arrive in a new place, it's very important to meet with local people -- on the street, in the park -- to talk with them about the situation of the place you're visiting. It's very important for security.

The border with the US is like a line of death for migrants. First there is the geography -- much of the border area is desert, which makes it difficult to cross. Then, on the Mexican side, there is the criminality of the drug cartels, which makes illegals very vulnerable. And on the US side there is the border patrol.

Drug traffickers control the area and "los halcones" ("the hawks" who are the narco spies), report on each movement taken in their area -- who went where, who spoke to whom.

I am from El Salvador and whenever I am near the border I think of how difficult it must be for migrants from Central America to reach this point. I can get on a plane and be here within a few hours. They have to cross the entire country of Mexico, without documents, vulnerable to corrupt local officials, common criminals and of course the drug gangs. When I was crossing from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso, the immigration officer said, "how strange is it to see a Salvadoran crossing with a visa."

Guillermo: Usually whenever I got to a place, I talk to the locals, in order to let the people know that I'm there and what I'm doing. It's very important not to send the wrong message because if you do, these guys don't fool around, you can end up dead. Usually you need a few days to gain some trust so that you can work in peace.

But on this particular project we didn't have that luxury of time. It was very fast -- because I was shadowing Jim on the other side, in some places we were lucky if I had just a few hours to shoot. I was very worried about that, to tell you the truth. Fortunately, I didn't get into too much trouble.

That said, halfway through the trip, in Nogales, I had one of the scariest incidents that I've ever had as a reporter.

You become prey

Guillermo: I was taking pictures on International Street, which is right on the border, late in the evening. There were some paintings on the wall that I thought could be interesting. It was an area where Border Patrol had shot a 16-year-old boy in 2012. And a few months ago, local television aired images that showed people smuggling drugs in the area. I think that put them -- the guys who control that particular territory -- into a 'we don't like the media' type of mood. Most of the time, there are lots of things that are going on in the background that you're not aware of. Which is why you have to be so careful and it's important to develop contacts and trust beforehand.

As I was shooting, a big blue truck with tinted windows stopped not far from me. I heard its tires screeching. It just stopped. I couldn't see anything inside because of the tinted windows. No-one got out. I took my last picture and I started walking slowly to my car. When I moved, the truck started following me. I stopped to take another picture. The truck left.

Then I saw another car, an SUV with tinted windows, stop at a nearby corner with its lights on. I took another picture and decided it was time to go back to the hotel. I drove super slowly, at about 10 kilometers an hour. The car followed me. I drove that slowly for two reasons. First, if it was just anyone, they would get frustrated and pass me. But when someone follows you at 10 kilometers an hour for 15 blocks, you know that he is really following you. Secondly, it's very important not to run in these types of situations because as soon as you start running, you become prey.

Eventually the car left. They had let me go. But it was a pretty clear message -- "we are following you and we are watching you."

It has been a long time since I experienced something similar and to tell you the truth it unnerved me. Most of the time, they send someone to warn you. That's much easier, because you have a person in front of you with whom you can interact. You can explain what you are doing and you can ask what you shouldn't do in order to avoid trouble. But this. This was truly scary.

After that, I spoke with a local reporter and I decided to do most of the driving on the US side and to cross into Mexico to simply take pictures for the project. I remember as I crossed from Nogales and started driving toward Douglas, Arizona, a feeling of rage grabbed hold of me.

I was so angry that I felt more secure on the US side than in Mexico. It was both incredibly outrageous and sad. How is that possible, I thought. Mexico is a great country with great people, but we have been jailed, criminals have taken our country, have hijacked it.

Drugs trump all

Guillermo: The general sentiment that I found along the border was that people and drugs will keep crossing the border, with or without a wall, be it above or below. I've been working on the border for years and many things have changed in that time -- more barriers, bigger fences, more law enforcement agents, less migrants, more narcos. What hasn't changed much are the daily interactions between the border communities. Cities that lie on either side of the frontier are dependent on each other, be it the thousands of people from Tijuana who commute every day to work in San Diego or the crowds of elderly Americans in downtown Algodones seeking a cheaper dentist.

Most of the Border Patrol officers that I talked to don't think a wall is necessary, but would rather have a boost in their numbers, a human wall if you will. In many place you have natural barriers, like the river or mountains so a physical barrier is not needed. And in many places, a barrier is not necessary because you need two to three days of walking to get to a village. Border Patrol just waits for them to get there and catches them there.

A river runs through it

Guillermo: The craziest thing that we saw was near Ojinaga. We were driving and we noticed something by the river.

Yuri: At first I thought it was someone fishing. Then we got closer I could see that it's a girl.

I realized that she was walking with her baby to cross the river.

Guillermo: We stopped the car and tried not to make a big deal about it. We didn't want to draw attention to her or put her on the spot. The light was gone and suddenly she just jumped into the water and started walking across. With the baby in her arms. We didn't approach, because we also didn't want to scare her and make her drop the baby. It was the craziest thing that I saw during this project. You just don't expect to see a woman jump into a river by herself with a baby in her arms and cross to the other side.

This blog was written with Yana Dlugy in Paris