INTERVIEW: New TV series documents stories at U.S.-Mexico border
Photo: Lilia Luciano is one of the journalists working on Discovery’s Border Live. Photo courtesy of Discovery / Provided by press website with permission.
The border between the United States and Mexico has become perhaps the most controversial area in the entire world. President Donald Trump still claims he will build a wall, paid for by the Mexican government, while the political opposition believes more compassion should be given to the migrants coming across the border.
It’s a tenuous situation that involves communities, families, law enforcement and divided nations. Building on this conversation and debate, Discovery Channel has crafted a new six-part TV series looking at the border, and the network will present its findings beginning Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 9 p.m.
Border Live, featuring the work of CNN correspondent Bill Weir and investigative journalist Lilia Luciano, will not only go deep into stories from Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico, California and Texas, but the show will also go live from the border itself, making this one of the most unique reality series of the year.
“I am very passionate about stories about the border,” Luciano said in a recent phone interview. “I am bicultural. I spent some time covering immigration issues. I spent a long time covering drug policy. I did a documentary for HBO called Guerras Ajenas about the consequences of drug policy in Colombia, so I thought the border presents such an opportunity to find and tell and discover stories that we don’t generally see in news. I’ve spent a long time doing documentaries, but I’ve spent a long time doing news. We follow the headlines, and we tell the story every day — then we move on. There’s nothing that I enjoy more than just having the opportunity to immerse myself and spend the time and connect with people at the most human level and bring it all to the audience. That’s ideal.”
Luciano said Border Live will focus on the people who either work at the border or live in the surrounding communities. Of course, there are also the stories of those families moving across the area from one country to another. That’s the ultimate focus of Luciano’s work on the series: the people.
“I think you can never have enough stories about people, and certainly I really enjoy much more stories about humans and how policy impacts them,” she said. “I have so many colleagues that do an incredible job that is inspiring to me and that I aspire to do in connecting with humans and telling really human stories. I think there’s definitely that out there. I think what’s missing is just talking about people’s circumstances or connecting with them. Just show me them. What we’re doing is immersing ourselves and showing the reality of the everyday lives of border enforcement, law enforcement, communities, everyone who is interacting and coming together in these towns. And, of course, we won’t have enough time to tell them all, but instead of finding the stories to tell the news of the day, it’s the opposite of that. Regardless of what happens politically and regardless of what the news of the day is, this is the everyday life. This is the reality of the border life.”
Luciano’s work on the series extends beyond the communities living nearby. For example, she has taken part in several ride-alongs with local law enforcement and brings her “curious self” to these interactions, constantly questioning and bringing a new perspective.
“There’s definitely a lot of those stories and trying to understand how they do what they do, and how it all comes together, and why they do it and all that,” she said.
On the community front, she has interviewed a host of people for the project. Recently she was in a town talking to some folks who moved near the border for a special spiritual connection in the desert. She also reported on hunters who were gearing up for hunting season in the local area.
“Then you have locals who have been there for generations,” Luciano said. “You have New Mexican culture and Native culture and all kinds of people, and then you have these militias that are there. People are concerned because they are armed, and they’re out there in the desert doing their thing and trying to catch people and stop smuggling and stop migrants from crossing. So all of those different personalities and all of their drive and motivations and understanding … they all kind of come together and paint a picture of, OK, this is what this town is like. Then you have the Rio Grande where it’s an entirely different scene and an entirely different border crossing.”
She added: “We’re exploring it all from all sides really.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Border Live premieres Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 9 p.m. on Discovery Channel. Click here for more information.
