Nearly 2,000 miles of hot, dry and mostly inhospitable terrain, the United States’ border with Mexico is not a top tourism destination.
It is a landscape in which one is more likely to find people who are compelled to be there: immigrants crossing into the United States illegally; growing numbers of Border Patrol agents assigned to police and secure the area; vigilantes hoping to stanch the flow of illegal migration; and activists working to support it.
Paul and Nick Pineda, a father and son duo from the Seattle area, have set their sights on the border for another reason: They plan to walk it in its entirety, specifically for the unique challenges it presents.
Part political activism, father-son bonding trip and outdoors adventure, their journey began March 6th at the southern edge of San Diego, the latest of a small group of trekkers drawn to the border for a complex and emotional mix of personal and political reasons.
The Pinedas’ journey is more than a personal challenge; it is a political statement, one of an increasingly common type, meant to show that the border and the people trying to cross it — subjects of intense attacks and aggressive policies meant to curb illegal immigration — are not something to be feared.
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