Reporter: The cold, hard end of the road.

A metal slab in the morgue, tucson, ari

zona, where hundreds of unnamed immigrants end their desperate quest for an amer
ican life. And it falls to robin, an anthropologist working among the dead here
to tackle the huge task of identifying the remains of men and women who died cro
ssing the mexican border over the past three years.
The I think it is really important for us to think about the human cost of our b
order today. Reporter: Down the hall, robin keeps a solemn locker room. People a
re carrying a lot of religious items with them.
Like rosaries. Many, many prayer cards. It really, to me indicates that you are,
you are planning for something where you need extra protection.
She keeps a book filled with the hard luck cases. These are cases where the fami
ly is called in. They haven't found someone yet.
They don't know what happened. Their son or daughter called from altar and said,
mom, we are crossing the border tomorrow as soon as we get across I am going to
call you. And they never heard anything.
Reporter: The call never comes. Altar, a town, an infamous dusty crossroad for i
mmigrants coming to the u. S.
Illegally. The coyote whose prey on them and drug cartels who some say control i
t all. Few have ever gone there with cameras.
Who do we choose to provide a halo of protection an unarmed, diminutive, good sa
maritan, named sister mercedes. The economy is all based on immigrants. Yes the
immigrants in the town.
Reporter: She helps run a ter for migrants untouched by the cartels. We venture
through the heart of the town, the center square. This is where they all meet.
People from different places, from nicaragua, honduras, el salvador, guatemala.
There is a church here watching over it all. The guys in the white vans do not s
eem very religious.
They're coyotes. Their gutted vehicles line the square. They take, 20, 30 people
in there like sardines.
Reporter: Sister mercedes says her experience is that the guys charge each of th
e sardines about 3,000 pesos or $230 for the two-hour drive to the border. But t
his coyote squares the price is only 100 pesos per head. 8.
And then is anxious for the nosy reporter to move along. All of this is more the
migrants. All of the products are what they buy to take with them.
Bags, jackets. Ski masks, blankets. The desert gets surprisingly cold.
Everything is in camouflage. Si. Here hanging up in every shop is an item you we
nt see at saks or wal-mart, carpet shoes.
That's what they put on so they don't leave footprints. The border patrol doesn'
t find them. Reporter: In high demand, rosaries protection from a higher source.
Then over here we went into a group of would-be migrants sizing up the carpet sh
oes. we plan to cross tomorrow, tomorrow night if they give us a chance. So far,
he says he has spent 7,000 pesos, $560 to make it this far.
The price tag to cross the border can be real money. 000 $4,000. A with real ris
ks.

Biggest danger, dehydration, snakes, animals. Rorter: The final step is the most
risky, meeting with the coyote. Reporter: Your part, how much do you charge to
get them from altar to the united states?
Translator: It depend. But usually to go to phoenix we ask $35,500. Not sure if
this was their coyote, he was the only one willing to speak here at altar.
Then only if we dent shidn't show his face. Translator: If you don't rob the mig
rant, if you've treat them well it is fine. I belief we are offering them a serv
ice.
And that, my friend is altar, very happy to get the sour taste of a predatory bu
siness out of our mouths. It is back to the other side of the story now. People
actually trying to help out those desperate immigrants.
It is a very small space. You can see. But as I tell different people -- this is
where the miracles happen.
Reporter: Father sean, a jesuit. He and his group called the kino border initiat
ive serve two meals a day. With a heaping portion of dignity in nogales, mexico.
So what its the mission? Address the urgent humanitarian needs that people have.
Reporter: Aren't you facilitating what people here frequently call illegals?
Uh-huh. Reporter: Aren't you complicit? Our motivation is fais-bath-based one.
People in difficult situations make choices. They're fleeing violence or looking
for a better life. Reporter: This man who traveled from honduras across mexico
now plans to cross the border into the united states, the next day.
Reporter: Why do you want to go? What kind of job do you think you will do? I am
a chef.
I know how to cook. Reporter: So far he has been on the road 20 days and is flat
broke. His life savings of $500 exto extorted from him at cartel check points.
Who did you have to pay that to, a coyote? No. Reporter: To who?
Are you afraid? To cross? No.
I'm with god, man. Reporter: Irena is sad and loany. Her last two attempts to cr
oss, resulted in the capture of her husband.
How strong is your dream to been the united states? Translator: It is important
to be in the united states for my children. They will go to school and learn eng
lish.
Reporter: All the trips, all the danger, it is all for the two kids. Right? Tran
slator: They are everything to me.
They will have a better life and won't suffer as much as me. Reporter: Giving up
on the desperate journaey that begins in a cynical town, preying on immigrants,
delivers the vulnerable into our kitchens, front yard, and yes, sometimes to th
at morgue where robin keeps the small memento thousands of the dead. They're kin
d of humble, intimate things.
You know? So I try to treat this with, as much respect and dignity as i can. Rep
orter: We note among the most popular items carried by immigrants, saint jude, t
he personal saint of lost causes.