There are many people in the United states who entered the country without permission. They crossed the border on foot at night, or hid themselves in the backs of trucks. Most of these people have come from the neighbouring country of Mexico. They are called 'wetbacks' because for many the only way to get from Mexico to the US is to swim across the Rio Grande, the river that runs between the two countries. So they arrive in America with wet backs. People want so very much to get to the US because their country is very poor. When looking across the border they see fine houses, good roads, supermarkets, while on the Mexican side they see the houses of the poor, bad roads and little shops with goods that are often too expensive for them to buy.

Two people who often looked across the border were Juan and Sancho. They were both 22 years old and lived in a small village not far from the Mexican- American border. Juan was married and he had a young son. Sancho had a girl-friend whom he wanted to marry when he had found a good job. But both men were out of work. The little garage where they had worked for some years after they had left school was burnt down two years ago and the owner didn't have the money to build another one. Some time ago Juan had received a letter from his cousin Carlos, who had gone to America. One night he had crossed the Rio Grande and had gone to a big city where many Mexican-Americans lived. He knew a few people there who had come from his own village. Carlos wrote that they had helped him to find work on a farm. He had to work long hours and didn't get as much money as the other workers. The farmer knew that he couldn’t go to the police to say that he didn’t get enough. But he didn’t mind. In Mexico he had been without a job for six years. Now he could send some money to his wife, who had stayed behind with their three children. Juan and Sancho’s girl-friend didn’t like the idea, but they understood that in the US both men had a chance to find jobs. With tears in their eyes the women said good-bye to the men one dark night. At two o’clock they arrived at the river and swam to the other side. They quickly walked to some bushes and stayed there for ten minutes. When everything looked safe, they left and hurried to a town five miles away. They could see the lights, as they had so often seen them from across the border. But when they had run for some time they suddenly heard the noise of a helicopter. They tried to find a place to hide, but there wasn’t any. There the helicopter stayed. A strong light went on and found the two men. They had been caught.
The helicopter landed and two policemen came out. They walked up to Juan and Sancho and asked for their papers, which they didn't have, of course. When the sun came up the two men were put in a car and driven to the Mexican border. There they were handed over to the Mexican police who took them back to their village. The police told the men not to try it again, or they would be put in prison. Their women were glad to see them back alive, but Juan and Sancho are often seen looking to America across the border where they had hoped to find a job.