The Foreign Service Journal, October 2007

further south in Latin America. And it is where the paved highways from the south abruptly end, and contra- band traffic fans out along dozens of dirt trails and cow paths that meander north to the border. Sasabe is — thankfully — unlike any other place in Mexico. First-time visitors murmur, “It’s like a scene from ‘Mad Max.’” As your vehicle approaches town, bouncing and sliding along the rutted dirt road from Altar, there is the undeniable feeling that you have defi- nitely reached the end of the line — yet turning back is not an option. The entrance to town is lined with the car- casses of rusting automobiles and the remnants of the only industry (now defunct) the region has ever sus- tained: brickmaking. This is the middle of nowhere, and the last place you would expect growth and new con- struction. But growth has come here with a vengeance in the form of brothels and bars fueled by illegal immigra- tion and drug trafficking. Satellite dishes are everywhere, yet there is no bank or gas station. In Sasabe the vans empty, and passengers transfer to F O C U S O C T O B E R 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 31 Before crossing the fence that marks the U.S.-Mexico bor- der, migrants drop trash and unnecessary articles to reduce the load for the dark and perilous passage. Benjamin Ousley