Coyote Zone

Between the rusty scalable fence (not unlike the roll-down gate for retail) and the taller chain link/barbed wire fence sits the Border Patrol zone. White trucks with their trademark green stripe park and drive this stretch. In this buffer zone between fences are the surveillance towers which fail to capture crossers when they have made their way to standing directly below. Knowing the shift changes for the Border Patrol is an important aspect of the coyote's pre-planning. Unlike the idea of human traficking that often refers to forced migration in the sex trade, human trafficking along the Mexican border more often involves migrants willing to pay money to be shuttled safely across. There are many modes of such a crossing but the mainstay is still running across an opening in the line. The buffer zone of Tijuanaremains the most open of crossings that don't, in the end, dump a migrant to the hostile open landscape of the Sonoran desert. In a way, this zone is designed to expect such crossings. After all, Southern California needs its cheap, exploitable labor. (January 1, 2018)