The Wall: Reporting on the Border

Danger in the Bootheel

A Border Patrol agent shows reporter Diana Alba Soular what it takes to track signs of movement – and to stay alive – in the vast "Bootheel" of New Mexico, where agents spend hours a day driving and hiking mostly uninhabited borderlands alone, and crossers find increasingly clever ways to hide their tracks. To read, watch and learn more on this topic, visit thewall.usatoday.com, or text the word "PATROL" to our chatbot at 408-872-9255. This episode was recorded, edited and produced by Hannah Gaber, with field interviews and sound from Cheryl Evans and Pat Shannahan. Kaila White was our production manager. Our technical director was Nate Kelly. Special thanks to Ray Soular for recording help. It was written by Diana Alba Soular, Josh Susong and Nicole Carroll.

On patrol with border vigilantes

Border reporter Rafael Carranza joins a group of civilian men patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border. They dress in combat gear, carry AR-15s and spend their vacation as part of one of the best-known, and most media-savvy, armed civilian groups in the country. Join them as they track drug smugglers on the Arizona border. To read, watch and learn more on this topic, visit thewall.usatoday.com, or text the word “RECON” to our chatbot at 408-872-9255. This episode was recorded, edited and produced by Hannah Gaber, with field interviews and sound from David Wallace. Kaila White was our production manager. Our technical director was Nate Kelly. It was written by Rafael Carranza, Michael Squires, Josh Susong and Nicole Carroll.

Joined in faith, divided by a border

Border reporter Aileen B. Flores hikes up Mount Cristo Rey, a mountain on the border between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico, with the Mexicans and Americans who view the site as a sacred homage to Jesus Christ and a symbol of the cities’ inextricable bond. To read, watch and learn more on this topic, visit thewall.usatoday.com, or text the word “MOUNTAIN” to our chatbot at 408-872-9255. This episode was recorded, edited and produced by Hannah Gaber, with field interviews and sound from David Wallace, Cheryl Evans, Thomas Hawthorne and Kathy Kieliszewski. Kaila White was our production manager. Our technical director was Nate Kelly. Special thanks to Ruben Ramirez for recording help. It was written by Aileen Flores, Zahira Torres and Nicole Carroll.

Following drugs under, around and through the border

Reporter Gustavo Solis meets law-enforcement experts in San Diego, where dense border fencing hasn’t stopped the constant flow of drugs through dozens of huge underground tunnels, an ever-changing array of boats and the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the busiest land crossing in the world. To read, watch and learn more on this topic, visit thewall.usatoday.com, or text the word “DRUGS” to our chatbot at 408-872-9255. This episode was recorded, edited and produced by Hannah Gaber, with field interviews, sound and editing help from David Wallace. Kaila White was our production manager. Our technical director was Nate Kelly. It was written by Gustavo Solis, Jill Castellano and Nicole Carroll.

Losing the jaguar

Environmental reporter Brandon Loomis visits the jaguar’s native habitat in Sonora, Mexico, learning that this apex predator will become extinct in the American Southwest if a continuous border wall is built. To read, watch and learn more on this topic, visit thewall.usatoday.com, or text the word “JAGUAR” to our chatbot at 408-872-9255. This episode was recorded, edited and produced by Hannah Gaber, with field interviews and sound from Mark Henle. Kaila White was our production manager. Our technical director was Nate Kelly. It was written by Brandon Loomis, Shaun McKinnon and Nicole Carroll.