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Sue Perkins: Along the US-Mexico Border

Series 1

Episode 2

Duration: 59 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC One LondonLatest broadcast: on BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

Sue visits the Mexican city of Juarez, essentially one half of a super-city adjoining El Paso, Texas. Here she meets people whose lives traverse the border, including Gabriela, who is bringing up her kids alone in El Paso because her husband, Adrian, is not legal in America and is stuck in Juarez. Every weekend she takes the children to the border, so they can cross into Mexico and be with their dad. But Gabriela is not allowed to cross the border until her own immigration papers are finalised, and in the last six years she and Adrian have spent only 15 minutes together.

For hundreds of miles, the Rio Grande river serves as the international boundary. In Mission, East Texas, tens of thousands of illegal crossings of the river border take place each year, and consequently a section of Trump’s border wall is soon to become a reality. Sue meets Father Roy, a local priest who has made headlines for opposing the wall. His historic chapel sits by the Rio Grande, and the planned wall will cut it off from its congregation.

Finally, after 2,000 miles and three weeks on the road, Sue ends her trip at a quinceneara in the Mexican border town of Reynosa. It's a party to celebrate a local girl's 15th birthday - a huge tradition in Mexico, and the most important night in a young girl’s life. Show less

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