I want to know if any documentaries or news stories have been done on
illegal immigrants crossing into the United States.   Specifically I
want to know if  a camera person has ever actually traveled across the
border with a group of people while filming them.  Thank you.

Dear curiousgeorge32-ga:

Will you be kind enough to let me know if these two examples answer your question?

National Geographic Ultimate Explorer?s ?Chasing the American Dream?
includes rare footage of one Mexican family?s high-risk journey across
the deserts of Arizona in search of a better life in America. The
documentary begins with the Family from Mexico City waiting in a sewer
culvert to go to Los Angeles and follows them through to their
experiences in the US as illegal aliens.
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4579802/

?From the Other Side?, a documentary by Belgian filmmaker Chantal
Akerman, follows Mexican illegal immigrants as they attempt to cross
illegally into the United States records the thoughts and actions of
Mexicans as they try to illegally sneak into the country.
CULTURE DOSE
http://www.culturedose.net/review.php?rid=10004587


Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

Dear tutuzdad-ga:

Thanks so much for your information.  I was familiar with the Ackerman
film but not the National geographic piece.  Sadly, the National
Geographic piece is not on video anywhere and I'm unable to find a
showing of "From the Other Side."  In order to answer my question I
need to see both of them to see if the camera does, in fact, cross the
border with the migrants.  However, your help is much appreciated.

Many thanks,
curiousgeorge32-ga

It's a long time ago now, but I remember that one of the UK TV
stations did a documentary on this, probably in the 1970's but could
have been a bit earlier or later. I think it was 'World in Action'
from ITV but it could have been 'Panorama' from BBC. I think it was
one of these even handed things where they in fact crossed the border
with a group of Mexicans and then gave the point of view from the
American border guards side.

The thing that sticks in my mind was a border guard saying that they
regularly do helecopter sweeps along the bank of the Rio Grande
looking for footprints in the mud coming out of the water and then
following the direction these go in to try to catch the Mexicans. One
mexican they caught had stripped the uppers from an old pair of shoes
and glued the soles back to front to the bottoms of his own shoes so
it appeared that he was walking from USA back into Mexico. Full marks
for inventiveness but he still got caught.

Perhaps a Google researcher can check this out further.

Regards.