Jim and Sue Chilton, a couple in their 80s, own tens of thousands of grazing acres in Arizona along the U.S.-Mexico border—an area three times the size of Manhattan that has become one of the busiest corridors for illegal border crossings. In this well-reported story, Eli Saslow shows what day-to-day life is like for the couple and their cowboys on Chilton Ranch.
The Chiltons had always had some immigrants traveling through the property, but recently Border Patrol agents estimated that as many as 250 people each day were arriving on the remote corners of the ranch after being led across the border by paid guides working on behalf of the Sinaloa cartel.
He turned onto a rugged road that paralleled the border wall and drove for a few more miles, until he saw a campfire burning in the distance. “Nobody should be out here,” he said. He was on the most remote corner of one of the most remote ranches in America, but as he drove closer, he counted more than 45 people sitting near the fire. Children shouted in French. A woman prayed in Arabic.
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