Who's the We?

(footsteps and shovel hitting ground).

(footsteps and shovel hitting ground).

ALVARO: This project of mine which I call Dnde mueren los sueos, where dreams die, which is something between land art and conceptual art and performance art, this is my way to connect at the end of my life, I'm trying to connect myself to migration.

This notion that there's an American dream that we find here.

Somehow the idea persists that this is where we find home and all of the things that we need to, to feel safe.

But nowadays, the American dream is very costly.

You can die making the trip.

I have the GPS information where people have been found dead and sort of give them a little presence, give them a little bit of historical memory, a little bit of life.

These deaths are not mentioned in newspapers and on television, but these people had names.

And families.

They all had dreams and plans and feelings like all of us.

They are no different from us.

They're just people who need to move from their lands because life there is not, is not safe and opportunities are very few.

And they need to come here because this is the only option.

You know, this person is unidentified and to me these are the saddest cases of them all.

Because the family is wondering what happened to this person, and they hope that one day this person is going to make a phone call and say, Hey, I'm back here in the US, you know, roofing a house or something, you know, killing some pigs somewhere in Georgia, in North Carolina.

But that's not going to happen because we have the bones here, but we don't know who they belong to.

But in the meantime, the family keeps hoping, waiting.

Some people are going to remain unidentified forever.

So this, in a way, is the memory that we have of this person, this little humble cross here.

It's all we have, and it's probably all there's going to be.

That's why the thing is important to me, to give this, this person a presence that he came here looking for what America, you know, the land of opportunity.

(waves crashing).

(seagulls squawking).

DOUG: So I started a church and pastored that church for, for 20 years.

And during that time and in the last couple of years since then, I've been organizing people nationally to be involved in efforts that that matter to us in our society.

Am I still a pastor?

Is someone a pastor when they don't have a congregation?

In some ways, yes.

And I guess I could say that I have a larger congregation, you know, that I speak to a lot of people and organize a lot of work and do the same kind of spiritual leadership.

I was an activist kind of pastor, and now I'm a pastoring kind of activist.

Because we like to plan big things that attract people's attention, we decided to raise awareness of border issues by biking from San Diego to Saint Augustine, Florida, in a way that makes people pay attention to the experience along the border.

All right, the We the People ride is beginning.

It's this small little effort.

The three of us are going to start riding from this location here in San Diego, right across the wall from Tijuana.

And what we want to tell is the story of the border practices, immigration.

Most importantly, the people who are impacted by it.

So we call this the We the People Ride for Common Good Immigration and Border Practices. That phrase We the People is one that shows up in both the political spaces, that's the phrase for the people of the United States.

And it's a government of the people, for the people, by the people... And we're going to walk down there now.

We're going to get on these bikes, walk them through the sand, get on the road and start making our way to the other side of this country of ours, make our way all the way to the Atlantic Ocean from coast to coast, along the border.

...but it's also one of the phrases inside of Christianity that the practice of Christian community is referred to in Christian traditions as the work of the people, or the question of who is included in one-anotherism.

Is it all of us as The People, or is it just some of us?

It's a 67 day journey.

It'll take us from San Diego, California to Saint Augustine, Florida.

Okay, here we go.

Let's go to Florida!

So some days, we'll bike more than 50 miles.

Some days maybe a little less.

We'll be traveling with support vehicles: an RV and a truck that pulls a trailer which has bike gear in it.

Because people are going to be joining us.

Some of us will be on the journey from beginning til end.

DRIVER: Everything all right?

DOUG: Other people will come in for a day or two or a week at a time and join with us.

Who is the We, when we say, We, The People?"

Who gets included in this?

There's not clear answers to that all the time, and we haven't always answered that in ways that we're comfortable with in faith and in politics in this country.

So we felt like this question of we and people is essential to both sides of the equation that we're working on.

And so we want this ride to be that reminder that the systems that are created, they didn't just exist.

Someone made them.

And if we made them, We can change them.

(bike gear clicking).

(spray painting).

Woohoo!

FRIEND: You nailed that.

DOUG: Oh my gosh.

We're trying to create a visual each day of a start and a finish to the day so that we can mark the ride with a definitive start and a definitive finish.

It needs to have its own moment.

Looks like day five.

Day five!

Whoo hoo!

BRANDON: We are.... we're here.

They'll be traveling today just right along crossing the border into Arizona.

DOUG: The thing I hear from most people, friends, strangers, when they hear what we're doing, is Do you feel safe being near the border? So many people, when they even see images, video of the border, it's of detention camps.

It's always cages and wires and guards and it makes it look like a military zone.

GREG: Migrants are choosing to go to states other than Texas.

And that's because Texas has put up the resistance that it has.

Since this park has been taken over by the National Guard, the daily average is under ten a day.

It shows that deterrence can achieve results at decreasing illegal immigration.

DOUG: So we're here in the border of Arizona and Mexico, and you can see that this border wall in this part of Arizona is a six foot high or shorter metal frame.

It was referred to by the Border Patrol we just talked to as a vehicle barrier.

And you can easily step over it and step into Mexico.

The reason is because for 25 miles that direction, it's the desert.

And the way we choose in this country to manage this part of the border is to make this desert so deadly that if anyone crosses here and tries to make it into the towns that are 25 or 50 miles away, they're going to suffer in the desert.

I know that it's important we do this work, and we get ourselves on the ground and close to the border as we can, so that people will say, Oh, there's another story that's possible. These are human beings.

We want to know who they are, we want to talk face to face.

We want this to become a human experience and let people see that this is a part of our country.

This is this is America.

And immigrants are part of our country.

(distant dog barking).

(engine revving).

DORA: Ay, lo siento mucho, hijo.

Vamos a curarte los pies, OK?

Enrllese sus pantalones.

Solo mtalo un ratito en el agua, OK?

Que Dios le bendiga, hijo.

Por lo menos vino aqui para que nosotros le demos una manita, oye.

TRAVELER: S, gracias.

DORA: Lo siento mucho, de verdad.

TRAVELER: Seis dias en el desierto.

DORA: Qu horrible, hijo, por Dios, qu horrible.

Vamos a dejar que se seque un poquito, OK?

Ay, perdn, perdn.

DOUG: So your own story of coming was harrowing.

We've heard just bits and pieces.

We'd love to hear it from you.

DORA: It was rough.

I'm from El Salvador.

I was only 19 years old when the war in my country, the civil war began.

(guns cocking).

DOUG: How many were there?

Disculpe que le pregunte otra vez, pero qu va a hacer usted ahorita?

TRAVELLER: Ahorita, me... me van a venir a recoger.

Solo tengo que hablarles.

Una niita de 14 aos escribi eso.

TRAVELLER: Querido amigo: hola.

Mi nombre es Katy.

Soy estudiante en los Estados Unidos.

Y tango 14 aos.

Entiendo que tu vida... (crying).

DORA: Ay!

Lo siento mucho.

Muy linda.

Que tu vida vale mucho, verdad?

Y la vida despus puede incluir desafios y luchas, dice.

Encuentra salud y felicidad y xito.

Espero que tu viaje sea seguro.

Para ayudarte, he incluido una donacin para cualquiera de tus necesidades.

Te deseo suerte.

Con amor, Katy, una nia de 14 aos. OK.

DOUG: The 40 years ago story that you're telling is it was a big news story that people died in the desert.

But in the last ten years, thousands of people have died in the desert.

Deaths have only increased.

They haven't decreased because of the deterrence.

Usted entr aqui por Sasabe, verdad?

O entr por Altar?

TRAVELLER: Por Altar.

Todos esos son muertos?

DORA: Todos.

S.

Dios me bendiga, hermano.

TRAVELLER: Igual.

Este es mi hijo.

(children talking and playing in background).

LIKA: En el centro Casa de la Misericordia y de todas las Naciones, lo que nos dedicamos es a ayudar a las personas con mayor vulnerabilidad.

Su situacin este permanece en un estado de familia.

De hecho, nosotros recibimos familias completas, pap, mam, hijos.

Mujeres solas con hijos o mujeres solas, que son las mas vulnarables o menos espacios tienen dnde llegar.

Y crear esta comunidad ha sido como una respuesta a la necesidad.

Ponernos en los pies del migrante.

Ponernos en los pies de ellos, y crear a travs de la experiencia con el trabajo de las personas, esta posibilidad de vivir en familia.

La gente que est aqui es en su mayora son mexicanos.

Muchos vienen de Centroamrica, incluso de Sudamrica, Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatamala, Honduras.

Que van llegando hasta llegar.

Esos Nogales.

La gente que est aqui no est porque quiere.

Es gente que ha sufrido o su vida corre peligro, y no pueden estar en sus lugares de origen y por eso tienen que dejar sus sus pueblos, sus casas, para buscar un una serenidad, una paz que no tienen en sus tierras.

Es como albergue, es un refugio para migrantes que estn solicitando asilo a los Estado Unidos.

Esta mariposa representa la migracin.

La monarca.

Y para nosotros es como simbolo de la migracin.

Y al fondo voy a poner cometas.

Un nio all de aquel lado.

Un nio con cometas.

Aqui el sueo de los nios, igual que la mariposa igual que las golondrinas, cuando vuelan aqui el papalote, los nios dicen, yo quesiera ir en el papalote. Porque ese papalote dice llega hasta Estados Unidos o puede llegar hasta donde sea.

Entonces, para los nios, el papalote dice mucho en el sentido de a dnde se van.

(children laughing and playing).

(indistinct background chatter).

DANNY: I didn't know what I was going to be seeing or going into.

My fiance was very concerned, you know, she said Be careful! Because there's this obviously this perception that the border is a lawless, dangerous, violent, um, um, area in which there is nonstop crime, nonstop drug smuggling, nonstop people trying to escape, you know, from Mexico into the United States.

I always thought that was a misperception, but I didn't really know.

SHANE: When we first woke up that morning and started biking with about 50 people, you know, that live in Mexico.

(speaking in native language).

Kind of going, I wonder if they know all that's behind this, you know, or like, or just kind of like, ah, you know, dozen gringos are going to be with us this morning.

And then when we stopped though, and, you know, with translation began to talk about what, what we're doing.

DOUG: We're wanting to raise awareness around the need for new border practices.

(translator speaking in native language).

SHANE: For them to see that there's people here that are trying to do something.

DOUG: So that asylum seekers can come in when they need help.

TRANSLATOR: Para que la gente que busque asilio, puedan entrar.

SHANE: And to see the connection and the passion and the support from them.

That's, that was really the takeaway for me from that day.

It was just incredible.

DOUG: Thank you for your love that you've shown us today.

TRANSLATOR: Y gracias por su amor, que nos ha mostrado hoy.

DOUG: And hopefully it's downhill now.

TRANSLATOR: Y que bajemos en vez de subir.

DANNY: So I didn't really know what I was going to be getting myself into when I went down there, and it was calmer and nicer than I could have imagined it to have been.

I mean, it was totally shocking.

Literally the exact opposite of the perception of the border in every possible way.

SHANE: The ride was more than a bike ride, and it was also a very holy, good for the soul kind of thing to ride.

And you, you had space to think about what's at stake and how can we do things differently.

DANNY: Seeing the wall, it was the first time I had ever seen the wall, and I was very surprised by it, by how violent it is.

And how imposing it is, and how in many ways, it felt um, deeply un-American.

So many people that view how they view the the border is, you know, is this is this violent, dangerous place.

If they were to go to the border, I don't think they would be proud of the wall.

I think they would be actually ashamed of the wall.

Like it doesn't represent the true values of this country.

DOUG: Most of the days, as we would ride, and especially as we were riding through the border states along the border wall, many days when it felt hard, and there were many days where it felt very hard, I would look over to my right and look out into that desert and think about migrants who are walking through the desert 30 or 50 miles, and there was no water bottle with them.

There was no support vehicle a few miles ahead.

They weren't on bicycles.

They were on the run and they were scared.

And so that's where my mind went most of the time.

And it was so stunningly beautiful at the same time.

I'm a big fan of the desert.

I love the way the sun looks.

I love the way the heat looks.

I love the way the cactuses look.

I just think all of it's so spectacular that in those difficult times, in those desert environments, there was a sheer beauty to it all.

(applause).

(indistinct background chatter).

THOMAS: Yeah, I was just thinking about it when you came over.

I'm looking around going, This is just like any other town in the States that you go to.

This just happens to be right on the border. I mean, you can't get any closer to the border than there, and it's no different.

I mean, yeah, there are issues, but I think for the most part, people just carry on, you know?

Yeah, life goes on.

DOUG: So many people in Minnesota would be afraid to come to the border, maybe you've heard it too?

THOMAS: Absolutely, absolutely yes.

DOUG: Have you heard people tell you that you should be afraid to come?

THOMAS: Are you really going down to Mission? Well, yeah, as a matter of fact, in ten days we bought a house here.

(laughter).

So we're going to be here seven months and then northern Minnesota five months.

DOUG: Then a wall comes up and it just says something else.

You know?

What do you think?

THOMAS: There's got to be a better way.

I don't know what it is I guess, or.

I may be gone before that's found.

DOUG: Isn't that sad?

THOMAS: Yeah, yeah.

And but we're here because we came here and we liked it here.

And we're back.

DOUG: Yes.

DOUG: Yes.

DOUG: Yeah.

DOUG: We've ridden the border.

We started in Tijuana and rode all the way here on our bicycles.

So we've been stopping in these towns and people just over and over keep saying, I wish people in the rest of the country knew what it's really like here. DOUG: You can't shake it from their minds.

(laughter).

DOUG: Yeah.

(traffic).

(dogs barking).

DOUG: Yeah, so today we're going to ride here from McAllen into Reynosa and spend time in the with the people who are called to remain in Mexico even when they're seeking asylum.

And then we're trying to answer the question, who's included in We of We the People in this country.

The United States law is that the only way you can seek asylum is on US soil.

So the reason migrants are coming to the border and then turning themselves over to the Border Patrol is to ask for asylum.

As a pastor myself, and a person of faith, I believe that all people are included in the family of God.

But then as a country, we have to make the decision: who do we want to include?

Who should be allowed to be part of this country?

We know that a lot of faith voters think one way on Sunday when they're at church, and then act another way on Tuesday when they walk into the voting booth.

(traffic).

ALMA RUTH: To see so many Mexican journalists waiting for us and for me to speak and explain to them that you wanted to help the immigration population, that, you know, these migrants, asylum-seekers, as a Mexican, as a Mexican missionary, as a humanitarian worker, it was so meaningful.

DOUG: And we want to meet the people who are living on both sides of the border.

ALMA RUTH (translating): Y queremos conocer a la gente que vive en los dos lados de la frontera.

DOUG: And we want to tell the stories of the impact of the policy from the United States.

ALMA RUTH: They were there because we were paying attention to them.

We were looking them in the eyes and we were reminding them, they're humans.

DOUG: The preamble to the Constitution of the United States starts by saying, We the People. (indistinct background chatter).

(speaking in native language).

FRANCISCO: Activistas continuarn su viaje a travs de la frontera para sequir presionando al gobierno por un cambio en la politica migratoria.

DOUG: Immigration policies of the United States... FRANCISCO: Las actuales politicas de inmigracin de los Estados Unidos estn obsoletas y son crueles.

En el campamento convivieron con nios y adultos que viven aqui en condiciones inhumanas e hacinamiento y enfermedad.

ALMA RUTH: To see the children's excitement, somebody came to see us!

Not just the grown ups, but somebody came to see us! And for them to try their bike ride and then to follow you guys and waving at you, that was amazing because it's like we are being seen.

We matter. (children laughing).

DOUG: Ok, you want a squirt?

(children laughing).

(children laughing and screaming).

(children laughing and screaming).

(children yelling).

(pigeons flapping).

(indistinct chatter).

(indistinct chatter).

MARIA: Buenas tardes a todos.

Este, mi nombre es Maria.

Sali de mi pas porque peligro para m, peligro para mi hijo, y violencias, drogas, violaciones.

No hay comidas.

Es secuestradores para mi nios.

TRANSLATOR: Cuantos nios tienes?

MARIA: Dos.

TRANSLATOR: I have two children.

MARIA: Un varn y un humbra.

TRANSLATOR: One boy and one girl.

DOUG: How old are they?

TRANSLATOR: Cuntos aos tienen?

MARIA: Este, es mi hijo, trae 11 aos.

TRANSLATOR: One is eleven.

MARIA: Mi nia es de 9 aos.

TRANSLATOR: And my girl that is back in Guatemala is nine years old.

DOUG: So why is your daughter back in Guatemala?

TRANSLATOR: Por qu dejaste a tu nia en Guatemala?

MARIA: Porque no hay dinero ya no alcanza mi dinero cuando sali, por ahora se perdi unos 34,000 quetzales.

Porque cuando me entr mis dos hijos, muchos dineros.

TRANSLATOR: S, es dificil.

MARIA: Me quedo triste.

Cuando me dejo a mi nia all en Guatemala, estoy triste.

Yo quiero luchar por mis nios.

Yo no quiero perder mi vida, mis hijos.

No hay dinero, no hay comida.

Estoy triste.

Ya va 11 aos que lo con mis hijos.

Ah estoy luchando por eso.

Yo quiero luchar por mi vida, mis hijos.

(crying).

(indistinct background chatter).

DOUG: To God of all breath, we ask for love and care and kindness and goodness to these sweet mothers, sons that we've met today, changed policy for the United States, and to put it in the words of Jesus, May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, because this is not that.

So we will say an Amen, but it is a paused and broken Amen.

Because this work is unfinished.

Amen.

(car horns honking).

JOURNALIST: Right now, a group with the intention of stopping migrants from entering the U.S.

heads to border towns, including one near Eagle Pass.

JOURNALIST: The group's goal, according to their website, is to peacefully assemble on Saturday and call on government leaders to address the southern border.

PROTESTOR: And we're going to have thousands.

I'm hearing 40,000 truckers coming from all over the country and Canada.

(cheering).

PROTESTOR: But Father, right now you have told us these days were coming and we are going to Texas to stand with the people and to stand for the country that you have blessed us all with.

We know the country isn't perfect, but this is the greatest country that you have ever made.

CROWD: Amen!

(crowd cheering).

PROTESTOR: God bless America!

We're taking that border back!

JOURNALIST: The Take Back Our border Convoy has started its journey toward border towns.

JOURNALIST: Law enforcement along the border, preparing for the convoy to arrive a bit later this week.

(horns honking, crowds cheering).

DOUG: Well, one of the essential elements of this Christian Nationalist movement is the nationalist side of it.

It, it is the Christian side, for sure, that they believe that the United States exists for Christians and derives its authority from Christianity.

(distant protestor speaking).

What so many Christian nationalists believe is that it's their job to be the army of God.

In fact, this group even called themselves The Army of God.

They believe they are supposed to protect America.

CHRIS: There's a reason why they make fun of calling yourselves God's army.

Because as God's army being called to tell the truth, that means that your, your loyalty is to God.

It's to the Constitution.

Because our liberty does not come from the federal government.

Our liberty comes from God.

(applause).

Heavenly Father, you said, Father, that if we would humble ourselves, if we would repent from evil, if we would seek your face, if we would pray, that you would heal this nation.

I ask you, Father.

(voice breaking).

Because things are going to get rougher.

Not because we want them to.

Because the truth is coming out.

And the truth is going to make a lot of people angry.

DOUG: So their Christian faith is not calling them to service and to care and to love.

It's calling them to battle.

RALLY SPEAKER: Because we have here on the southwest border, every enemy of significance against the United States is massing on our border.

DOUG: And the enemies are those who they say are on our border seeking to attack the United States through the immigration process.

JAY: Too many people think it's the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island welcoming the new poor, huddled masses to America.

The Alamo is in my district.

Texas is America's Alamo.

We have to hold the line right here, and we have to do it right.

(cheering).

ALVARO: They demonize these people.

You know, now, they are the bad people who come here to rape and to kill.

But for the most part, all they want is an opportunity to have a job.

And to, and to be able to send your kids to school.

And to put them to sleep without being hungry, you know.

Very simple things.

...it's patriots and traitors.

And you're either one or the other.

IRVIN: We're a free America.

We, we should allow them in.

And we would.

We want documentation.

There's a process to come in.

You just can't come swimming across the river.

50s of you, thousands of you, and then come in here because we know you're bringing in uh, uh drugs.

You're, you're sneaking into America because they want to destroy us.

We got people from all around the world have been coming here for over 200 years.

Go through the process.

Just don't open up the door and say, Hey, come on in, no, no, no, no, no, that's not the way it's supposed to be.

We want to know who you are and why you're coming here.

DOUG: We hear from people all the time that they're saying they're not against immigrants.

They just want them to come the right way.

They want them to come legally.

And so do we.

The problem, though, is most immigrants that try to come in the country don't have an ability to come the right way.

ALVARO: There's no way there's no legal way to come here unless you have money and connections.

If you had that opportunity, you wouldn't be crossing the desert risking your life.

But how do you expect a peasent from Chiapas, or from somewhere who don't have the means to apply for a passport, for a visa and wait years and years to see and then get a, a, then they get a letter that saying that you have not been accepted to come into this country.

(indistinct radio chatter).

DOUG: So their belief is that the immigration system is simply designed to allow foreigners and enemies of the United States to find access into the country.

So while they say that they want them to come legally, they'll also say they need to be vetted.

And what they mean by vetted is be sure they're the right kind of people.

CROWD: USA!

USA!

USA!

DOUG: When we were coming to the border in response to this Army of God trucker brigade coming here, people would say to us like, Well, what does the border have to do with Christian nationalism? And then at the rally itself, there were people talking more about Jesus and what it's going to take for America to be on the right path than they were even talking about the border.

Because fundamentally, the Christian nationalist narrative is this: the only way America will be great again, is if it converts to Christianity.

And we talked to people who were there to attend that rally, and they told us explicitly that.

That the salvation of America is going to come through people converting to Christianity.

That's the only way it's going to happen.

(cheering and praying).

Just make the first thing first, which is to follow God.

And when they say God, they mean the Christian God.

When they say the Christian God, they mean their version of the Christian God.

RALLY SPEAKER: The main thing, the main thing, pray to God... DOUG: They don't include everybody else's version of the Christian God, or anybody else who claims God, or atheists who don't want to understand the world through a lens of God.

They only mean their, their version.

So the solution to the border for many of these people is not political.

The solution to our immigration is not our policy.

It is the conversion of more Americans to Christianity and that will solve it.

SHANE: I've really become deeply convicted that one of the most dangerous places for us to be is in comfort and safety, insulated from the suffering of this world.

Why are we hiding behind a wall?

I think, in the words of Saint Francis of Assisi, that essentially said, the more stuff we have, the more clubs we need to protect it. DOUG: When we were putting the ride together, one of our questions was, would we only ride along the US Mexico border?

And we decided to include the entire country, because immigration is not just an issue for the border states.

It's an issue for the nation.

And the truth of it is, in the United States, we have an epidemic of people feeling left out of the American experience.

Many people who hold anti or limited immigration views, they're scared of losing America.

They, they have some idea of what America is and who it's made of.

They're afraid of losing it, that somehow it's fragile.

And if the wrong people come and the wrong people participate in the United States, that something that is precious to them is going to go away.

So I get it that people are afraid.

They're afraid of a lot of things.

There's people that are afraid of every presidential administration that's elected.

And when a governor gets elected, they're not sure if they can continue to live in that state.

So we have this sense in the United States of being afraid of ourselves, being afraid of each other, being afraid of our government.

And that just gets translated onto immigrants, that we're afraid of immigrants.

And the American experience should ask us to widen our level of faith and trust in each other.

This nation does not work well when we fundamentally do not trust one another.

And that happens inside of this country, and it happens when we think about people who will come to this country from other places, and we have to find a way to have faith in and trust each other.

Route 66.

(cheering).

Let's go to St.

Augustine!

(traffic sounds).

(seagulls squawking).

(laughing).

(ocean waves).

(clapping and cheering).

(clapping and cheering).

(cheering and laughter).

DOUG: This ride has helped me to understand we can encourage people that immigration doesn't cause you to lose America, it causes us to revitalize America.

That these are people who are committing to come to this country, to participate in it, to join our economy, and we should make ways for them to come.

The other story we should be telling is that these are survivors.

These are heroes to their own family, these little girls and little boys who look up to their moms and dads who are making their way across other countries to get to safety.

Those children are seeing their parents as heroes of their family and heroes of their faith, and we act as if they're the problem.

(bell ringing).

(guitar playing).

(music continues).

(vocalizing).

Gracias!

(applause).

(music plays through credits).

Look behind you!

Oh, my lands!

(cow mooing).

(music continues through credits).