Ever wonder what it’s like to take the seven day, 75 mile journey from Sasabe, Sonora, Mexico to Tucson, Arizona? This perilous journey is also known as The Migrant Trail. Thousands of immigrants make this dangerous trek each year in hopes of arriving safely in America.

The film, The Migrant Trail, by J.M. Aragon, was made by Pan Left Productions in Tucson, Ariz. This documentary uses “artistic video imagery with a compelling musical score from renowned Puerto Rican folk artist, Jose Pepo Saavedra, to convey a reflective look into the migrant trail walk.”

The film explains a new phase of militarization along the border called Operation Gatekeeper that the U.S. began in 1994. This incited the building of more metal walls along the border, more patrol and militarized infrastructure.

The border patrol shifted a lot of their focus to the more heavily populated areas, and popular areas for immigrants to cross the border. A lot of these hot spots were in California. This forced people to the Sonoran Desert route.

The Sonoran Desert is one of the least inhabited and most deadly deserts that a migrant could be forced to venture into. More than 3,000 migrants died within the first two years of operation gatekeeper being in effect. Many of these deaths occurred from the harsh environment of the desert, such as hypothermia, hyperthermia, dehydration, hallucinations and convulsions. Other aspects that killed migrants were lethal assaults and vehicle chases.

For the past few years people have been coming together to partake in the 75 mile, seven day walk. This event is called The Migrant Trail Walk and occurs from May 30th to June 5th. This walk brought attention to the harsh realities of the Sonoran Desert. A place where recorded lows reach only 8 degrees Fahrenheit and highs can reach 117 degrees Fahrenheit.

The walkers have much of what the migrants don’t, including water, good shoes, tents and plenty of food.

“We have good shoes, we are not forced to hide, we have it easy,” one walker in the documentary said.

They take paved roads instead of scrambling through bushes and hiding from border patrol. But they walk to raise awareness and gain some sense of what the trail is like.

“I still have not experienced what they experience. I do not know what it is like,” another walker said.