If you want to know a country’s deepest fears, look at its border.
S01E04: How the US outsourced border security to Mexico
For the first time ever in 2014, the U.S. recorded more undocumented migrants from Central America than from Mexico. In particular, 52,000 unaccompanied children were detained between October 2013 and June 2014. With what seemed to be a looming humanitarian crisis to deal with, the Obama administration enlisted the help of Mexico, and President Enrique Peña Nieto's administration. Together, they launched the Southern Border Program initiative: the U.S. provided funding, equipment, and training to Mexico in exchange for a crackdown along Mexico's southern border. After all, many would-be migrants from Central America to the U.S. must pass through Mexico first. This policy worked for a few years, but levels of undocumented migrants are on the rise again. And the mounting human costs make it increasingly difficult to call a success.
Overview
Reporting from six borders around the world, Emmy-nominated journalist Johnny Harris investigates the human stories behind the lines on a map in a new series for Vox.com.
Episodes
S01E01 Divided island: How Haiti and the DR became two worlds
October 17, 2017 15 min
Haiti and the Dominican Republic may share the same island, but there's a surprising amount of inequality between the two neighbors. If you're born in Haiti, you're over two times more likely to die as...
S01E02 It's time to draw borders on the Arctic Ocean
October 24, 2017 15 min
The ice in the Arctic is disappearing. Melting Arctic ice means new economic opportunities: trade routes in the Arctic ocean, and access to natural resources. Because of this, the Arctic nations are now moving to...
For this episode I found myself embedded with a small community in Japan. They were born there, they speak the language. But they're not Japanese citizens, or even ethnically Japanese - they're North Korean. There's...
S01E04 How the US outsourced border security to Mexico
November 21, 2017 15 min
For the first time ever in 2014, the U.S. recorded more undocumented migrants from Central America than from Mexico. In particular, 52,000 unaccompanied children were detained between October 2013 and June 2014. With what seemed...
For thousands of years, humans have drawn lines on the earth, dividing the planet into nations. But there are some parts of the world that no empire, nation or state has been able to tame....
S01E06 Europe’s most fortified border is in Africa
December 5, 2017 15 min
The sixth episode deals with a border between Morocco and Spain. The journey to asylum is never easy. And perhaps no one knows this better than would-be African migrants to the European Union. In North...
