California · MIT Technology Review
Gómez Hernández did not tell her family about her plan until the day
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Once she arrived in California, she hoped to work and send money back to her three children and her parents in southern Mexico.
Key facts
- Gómez Hernández paid 20,000 pesos, about $1,150, for smugglers to help her cross the border, much lower than the current average, which sits at $12,000
- Officials from the Government Accountability Office wrote in a report in June 2026 that the Border Patrol currently has 803 fielded towers “and plans to deliver another 175,” across the southwestern
- That tower, made by General Dynamics and in place since 2019, boasts two sets of electro-optical and infrared cameras with long-range lenses that can track targets 5 to 7 miles away
- The eastern edge of San Diego is a mile away, but countless migrants hike 10 or 20 miles north through the mountains to evade the Border Patrol, emerging in smaller towns and on distant highways
Summary
She had only walked for a couple of hours, and already she was lost. It was early afternoon on Sept. 14, 2025, when 30-year-old Graciela Gómez Hernández crossed the border from the eastern edge of Tijuana into Southern California, sending voice messages to her mother and sister as she walked. This story is part of Dying on Camera, a collaboration between MIT Technology Review and Times of San Diego. Gómez Hernández did not tell her family about her plan until the day before. She either climbed a ladder over the border wall or slipped through a section in steep terrain where fencing has yet to be built.