Believe It or Not: Border Patrol Simulation a Tourist Attraction in Mexico

On a misty, moonless night, the group scurried down the canyon wall, their feet slipping in the ankle-high mud. The sirens grew louder as their guide, clad in a ski mask and known only as Poncho, urged them to run faster. “Hurry up! The Border Patrol is coming!” A couple in matching designer tennis outfits loped awkwardly along, the boyfriend clutching a digital video camera and struggling to keep the pop-out screen steady. The 20 or so people fleeing the fictional Border Patrol weren’t undocumented immigrants; they were tourists about 700 miles from the border. Most are well-heeled professionals more likely to travel to the United States in an airplane than on foot. They’ve each paid 150 pesos — about $15 — for what is perhaps Mexico’s strangest tourist attraction: a night as an illegal immigrant crossing the Rio Grande. Advertising for the mock journey, which takes place at a nature park in the central state of Hidalgo, tells the pretend immigrants to “Make fun of the Border Patrol!” and to “Cross the Border as an Extreme Sport!” As craven as the advertising sounds, the organizers say they are trying to build empathy for migrants by putting people in their shoes.   Click here for the full story.   thanks to Texas correspondent Cappy White for the scoop!