You completed graduate school. You are married. You have a child, seven years old. An investigation data brokers a secret industry aiming to expose all of your private information for a price. And [ singing ]. The sound of music and the voice of protest around big ben, how sun, song and a sense of community brought old and new together, each across a bitter divide. Good evening thanks for joining us, im joie chen. For so long we assumed into the much could be done. Sport has inevitable risks we learnt that concussion is not just a head game, it can lead to injury and suffering. We know the macho sports are not the only concussion risks. Now the white house is championing a multimillion effort to protect athletes from the kids to the pros from head injuries. Leading the charge president obama. An avid sports fan and father of two. Hes been outspoken about the dangers of concussion in sport, taking a special position. Asked about the support of football given the controversy around head injuries, the president said he used the power of the presidency to garner a National Conversation gathering parents, sports people, and coaches for a summit. We need better research, data, Safety Equipment and protocols. We need every parent, coach and teacher recognise concussion and athletes to understand how important it is to do what we can to prevent injuries and admit them when they happen. A concussion is a type of dramatic brain injury that can be accused by a blow to the head or body blow. More than 140,000 High School Athletes suffer these head ipp youries each injuries each year. Players like casey. I dont remember anything, except waking in hospital with icepacks and a bad headache. It was more than a month before kelsey felt normal again. What we dont know is whether for some individuals there is, though, a lasting effect of these injuries. Thats where our Research Needs to go. The president announced 80 million in pledges, much to support the Critical Research including 30 million for a Clinical Study by the n. C. A. A. And Defense Department into concussion and head impact exposure. 60 million by the National Institutes of health, studying the croppingic effect of chronic effects of concussion and from the n. F. L. To support youth projects. The n. F. L. Agreed to pay 76 p po 756 million to settle claims by old players. Its awaiting judges approval. It it enough to change the behaviour of athletes, coaches and families. What is needed, says the president , is a shift in attitudes. We need to change a culture that says you suck it up. Identifying a concussion and being able to selfdiagnose that this is something that i need to take care of doesnt make you weak. It means you are strong. Al jazeeras Neil Scarborough joins us. This is a big white house push. Why did the president get involved . I think, joey, that thanks to the n. F. L. Suit there has been a lot of awareness about concussion. It was boxing, hockey and football. They looked to the end of their careers and saw them as boxers, with all the mental issues and c t problems. Theres just as many concussions to girls in high school, soccer, softball. Lacrosse is involved. I think the president , i think, is looking for a comprehensive approach so we are not waiting until people are at the back end and we have been have people looking at the front end. We have other folks paying attention, and the importance of keeping young brains healthy is the president s focus. Hes the father. His daughters play sports and hes interested in creating solutions. We think of this as almost inevitable, the relationship between athletes and injury. Is there a simple sol use besides dash da solution besides hey, dont play. With the football attention, this is your brain on sports. Should you stay in the house to avoid the stuff. Theres not enough people paying attention to what causes the problems and what the symptoms are. What the president s effort is about is getting the community involved, and if you look theres studies involved from pop warner to the National Institutes of health, nc axe a and nf l. The focus is lets get enough information so we know what we are dealing with, and we are not waiting until someone cant count to 10. Thank you for being with us. Thank you. Participating in competitive sports can take a toll on the body. The effects felt long after playing days are over. We turn to dante who has had hard hits for a decade. Does that mean you have suffered concussion . Luckily for me i was blessed to play in the n. F. L. For 10 years and i never had any concussions. Well, officially never concussions. Any diagnosed. Yes, there has been a few times where ive been banged up and should have stayed on the sideline. The competitive nature of playing in the n. F. L. You try to get out there as soon as you can, and there are dangers that are, you know, out there for playing football, and on all levels. The good thing about the n. F. L. Is per seeing that over the past few years, especially with a lot of guys that played decades ago, and they are developing brain issues, now the n. F. L. Is looking into that for better player safety and donating money for rarfeers. The president is calling on the n. F. L. And pop warner. Do you see a change with the league, and within all realms of football that people are increasing awareness and from in stopping these. The biggest thing now is, as you mention before, with the older players, the guys that played in the 60s, 70s, 80s and the 90s, they are developing brain issues, so the n. F. L. Is taking the initiative not only to make our game safer but encourage others to teach their players to tackle better, especially the kids. They are the ones that look up to uses and the n. F. L. Donated money, if im not mistaken, 40 million to headsup. It teaches kids proper techniques on how to tackle. In football you have to have injuries. Right. Its a collision sport, not a contact sport. On that front. After all, at the end of the day, this is a collision sport. Is it really possible to make the game truly safe from concussions. I dont think so. The way the game is played, and the way its been played, there are going to be concussions, but the good thing is now weve been able to have different types of research and looking into the types of things on how can we better prevent concussions happening or what can we do to have them subside from the game of football. All right. Appreciate your being with us. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Coming up next your life online, just tmi too much information. Thats a recipe for disaster, when an organization, with almost no accountability collects some of the most sensitive, voluminous information on people. When they have a security incident, that jeopardizes the security of that information, there are no consequences. Data brokers selling your private information. Can the government stop them. Later here the push to bring our girls back. Nigerias stolen girls, and what we are learning about the power of boko haram. Families ripped apart. Racial profiling sometimes they ask questions. Sometimes they just handcuff people. Deporting dreams. Destroying lives. This state is literally redefining what it means to be a criminal alien fault lines Al Jazeera Americas hard hitting. Theyre locking the doors. Ground breaking. We have to get out of here. Truth seeking. Award winning investigative documentary series fault lines the deported only on Al Jazeera America it can seem harmless, but as you click on how much detergent you buy, when you took your last vacation all becomes a footprint of your life and valuable to measuredders and marketers. The federal trade commission has put hard fact and figures on what so called data brokers know about you already and pose new ideas on how to stop them from selling even more of your secrets. America tonight looked into the billion dollar data industry this spring. We now find theres more to it. Where you shop, what you buy. How old your children are or whether you might drink too much, you would think thats all private information, but youd be wrong. These personal details are being collected, categorized and bought and sold every day by data brokers. Their biggest business is gathering tremendous amounts of data on millions of people. Brian reports on Cyber Security for his blog. He says when it comes to big data, brokers hold the keys to the kingdom. They know what i buy, whether its underwear, shoes, cars, houses. Absolutely. They know in some cases more about me than maybe some of my friends or relatives do. They know more about you than you know about you. Adversaries everywhere. At the Worlds LargestInformation Security conference in san francisco, the buzz was all about keeping your data safe from malware, spam boths and an assorted array of other cyber threats. Pam dickson of the World Privacy Forum said the real threat isnt only what hackers and thieves can steal, its what we hand over about ourselves voluntarily, often unwittingly, every single day for free. Actually, these guys are really good as keeping threats away, but that doesnt Mean Companies cant buy and sell our information at will. All that gets pushed into a big giant information soup and what comes out at the other end is the profiling of individual consumers. Self improvement and Health Wellness offers. At our offers in san diego, dixon shoulder us some of these profiles or lists many of us end up on. Heres a lift that says alcohol drinkers, adult. Do i really want my name on this list if im an alcohol drinker. Dixon says there are scores are lists for sale. Im seeing everything from dry eyes to bed wetting to cancor sores. Substance abuse road to recovery book buyers club. How do they know that . How due date at a brokers know that i bought that book. That list is being sold, so if youre purchasing a book from that book club, thats how theyre getting it. Data brokers arent just getting customer information from retailers, they mine public records and monitor our public hostings on social media. Then theres all that personal information you may provide on on line survey on flirt. Com or realage. Com. Its as good as gold for the brokers and the clients they sell them to. They know this about me and categorize me in order to make it easier for them to sell me more stuff . To sell your profile to people who want to tell you more stuff, yeah, exactly. Theyre getting the personnics clusters. Pam believes that if the result of all this profiling was just targeted and better ads, there would be no reason for concern but thats not what shes worried about. If youre a major employer or youre a major health plan, you could purchase this list. You dont know for certain that employers are purchasing these lists, but the fact is they can. Thats correct. Thats exactly correct. This is really outside of regulation. There arent laws that say that employers cant buy these lists, and theyre not that expensive. America tonight contacted exact data chicago based data broker without asking us why we needed them, they agreed to sell us all kinds of list it is, the names, home and email addresses of people who use on line dating services, individuals who purchase product to fight angst site. We decided not to buy the lists and names you see arent real, but you get the idea. For 4,500, Aljazeera America could have purchased access to deeply private information about tens of thousands of unsuspecting individuals. Access that some fear could be bought by anyone. There are a lot of what ifs that you could come up in your mind about what else could happen with that data. As an industry, we work very hard to make sure is that Marketing Data is used for marketing. The chief lobbyist for the trade group that represents data brokers, her job lately, pushing back against the critics. They say you guys are unregulated, shadowy, secret, fair . Nothing could be further from the truth. D. M. A. Has had a self regulatory code for more than 40 years. Theres incredible amounts of self regulation going on throughout this industry. Are you aware of a Company Called exact data in chicago . Not off the top of my head. So you wouldnt know whether they are a member of the d. M. A. Or not. Not off the top of my head. We called exact data and they basically offered to sell us lists of all kinds of private, what i think many members of the public would consider to be Sensitive Information without having to jump too many hoops. They were willing to sell it to us so long as we were willing to pay for it. I cant speak to that particular situation, but i think theres more to the story very likely. You know, in a case where Marketing Data is being sold and purchased and transferred between companies, our code of ethics would say you can only share that information, it can only be purchased for markets purposes. Take experian, the fort knox of consumer information, credit and Marketing Data. In a major lapse, an identity theyve in vietnam gained access to a database with information on 200 million americans. Experian was selling information they claim unknowingly and im willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, so an individual claiming to be a u. S. Based private investigator. The person posing as an American Private eye was actually 24yearold man who pled guilty to identity fraud. Experian decline a i cant for an on camera interview but in a statement said the entire episode raises questions about data brokers power. Thats recipe for disaster, when an organization that has almost no accountability creates sensitive and voluminous information on people and when they have a security incident that jeopardizes the security of that information, there really arent any consequences. The question that comes out of this is how can we feel safe, the public at large, about keeping this sense active information in the hands of data brokers like experian and others. That particular case is one that is on going, a legal investigation, a Law Enforcement investigation. Its possible that if a wrongdoing its entirely a given that if a wrongdoing is found, the company will answer for that. One company is attempt to go answer critics concerns. Data broker auction recently launched about the data. Com lets you see what it knows about you. This is the first opportunity weve ever had, ever, to look behind the scenes of what a data broker generally has about us. We found some of what they know about me. I see your date of birth, that youre a male, africanamerican, i see that you completed graduate school, youre married. Have a child, your child is seven years old. Wow, this is pretty accurate. Thats pretty scary. Why does someone need all that information. Why do they need to know my child and how old she is . Its disconcerting. Dixon wasnt other data brothers to follow the lead and be more transparent about what they know and who theyre selling to. I want to make sure that if there is some kind of information thats out there on any list, that a consumer has the right to say to any data broker you know what, i want off that list. Aljazeera. Tiffany george is Senior Lawyer in the f. T. K. s Privacy Division and one of the principle authors of the report on data brokers is here. Can you talk about how widespread this is . We saw on the report the kind of information data brokers get can be very extensive, but how many of us can be victimized . We found that the data brokers collect information on almost every u. S. Consumer household and transaction. Almost every . Almost every. We cant say for sure it will be everyone, but it will be pretty difficult for a consume tore escape the net. This is extraordinarily. What you are proposing here for trying to limit the amount of information these folks have access to. We propose that the data brokers provide more transparency and provide consumers with access to the information they collect about them, as well as an opportunity to opt out or correct information where appropriate. Doesnt this put the onus on me as the consumer to try to track down whos been collecting what on me . We recommend a centralized mechanism, such as an internet portal where they can go to find out about the different data brokers, what type of information they collect and what control they provide. Something like a credit reporting service, a single portal, or maybe a limited number of portals, where eight as a consumer could find out whos tapping into what records of mine. Exactly. This is sort of horse out of the barn. If the onus isnt placed on the retailer not to disclose this information in a way that the data brokers can get into, its on me to protect myself. We recommend that legislation would address exactly that scenario and require at the source, that the retailer provide notice to the consumer that they are going to share their information with a data broker and give the consumer an opportunity to say i dont want to participate. What else could you do . Are there three things as a consumer that i could do to limit my digital footprint . Lets take a step back. Even if the consumer is not on line, data breakers collect a wealth of information off line, as well. We recommend transparency through actions of information, and an opportunity to opt out of the system. Is there anything else you can do to apply pressure to the retailers as the f. D. C. , any way you can put more pressure on the retailers to limit that information, just to not be able to put it in a forum to be disclosed to the data brokers . In addition, if retailers are acting in ways that are unfair or deceptive, thats where we come in and educate the industry about the practices and to encourage self regulation, as well. Coming up next, strong words and more violence, nigerias girls still missing. Can negotiations set them free . Im standing in texas, across the river there, thats mexico. While this area my seem wide open, this Border Crossing is closed and its illegal to go across to the other side. Ahead on america tonight, why people here are actually fighting for less security. Every saturday join us for exclusive, revealing, and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. Rosie perez i had to fight back, or else my ass was gonna get kicked. A tough childhood. There was a crying, there was a lot of laughter. Finding her voice i was not a ham, i was ham cheese. And turning it around. You dont have to let your circumstance dictate who you are as a person talk to al jazeera only on Al Jazeera America weekday mornings on Al Jazeera America we do have breaking news this morning. Start your day with in depth coverage from around the world. First hand reporting from across the country and real news keeping you up to date. The big stories of the day, from around the world. These people need help, this is were the worst of the attack took place. And throughout the morning, get a global perspective on the news. The life of doha. This is the International News hour. An informed look on the nights events, a smarter start to your day. Mornings on Al Jazeera America im ali velshi, the news has become this thing where you talk to experts about people, and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. We are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. We are ment to be your first choice for the news. Stories making headlines on america tonight, growing calls for the resignation or ouster of v. A. Secretary shinseki. More than 40 v. A. Hospitals are under investigation. The billion dollar bidding war for the Los Angeles Clippers is over and the winner is former microsoft c. E. O. Steve ballmer, offering 2 billion for the team. It must be okayed by Donald Sterling and the nab owners. On the search for malaysia air 370, australian Officials Say the area theyve been searching, theyre sure it is not the final resting place of the missing aircraft. Australias deputy Prime Minister is still convinced that it is somewhere in the southern ocean. Is it a stepped up push to find the missing nigerian girls, the nigerian president promising a war. With more on boko haram, heres sheila macvicar. After the end of military rule in nigeria, the president delivered a message, the government is doing everything it can. I said that once again, that government will continue to do Everything Possible to bring our girls home. Im determined to protect our democracy, our National Unity and our political stability. More many, those promises are wearing thin. This man says nieces and sisters are missing. We said that what would have come out would be details consoling to us. Earlier, it was suggested the government does in fact know where the girls are held. U. S. Officials are skeptical of that claim and any rescue operation could be bloody. A point made clear by military leaders. Nobody should come and say the Nigerian Military does not know what it is doing. We know what we are doing. President obama offered support and assistance, but acknowledged u. S. Involvement will remain limited. No American Security operation conrad indicate the threat posed by an Extremist Group like boko haram, the group that kidnapped those girls. Thats why we have to focus not just on rescuing those girls, but supporting nigerians to educate their youth. Anger at the government response still obvious on the streets. Aljazeera. Former u. S. Ambassador to nigeria, john campbell, joins us now to shed light on the situation and any kind of possible solution. President obama at west point singling out boko haram, president jonathan saying any means necessary. Is there a new view on how to deal with this organization . I dont think there really is, the organization or the movement is extraordinarily difficult to deal with. We dont know how boko haram is structured. It appears to be very diffuse. It is not clear at all that the most prominent spokesman for boko haram, not clear that hes able to call the shots. He may be the leader on television. Thats a good way of putting it, the leader on television. Thats because hes very effective with the media. His videos, his engagement with the camera is really quite effective, but is it clear that he is in control of the situation with the girls now . No, its not clear. In other words, we dont really know who controls the girls. He says he does, but there are all kinds of very sort of peculiar dimensions to this. Was this carried out with a group loosely affiliated with them and there was a good deal of negotiation amongst themselves about how to handle the situation. There isnt even clarity about what they want to do with the girls, if a negotiated release is possible. The closest thing is that he has said that he would release the girls or rather some of them if the government releases the women and children that it has interned because it suspects them are being connected to boko haram operatives. Said that. Its also made more sweeping demands that it wants all boko haram operatives released, so some kind of exchange seems to be whats in the wind. The possibility of some sort of negotiated settlement between the two sides. Difficult, though, because its not clear who on the boko haram side has the power to negotiate, and its up to now, boko haram has usually refused to negotiate, but again, on the local level, there have been negotiations in the past, so there are possibilities. And there is also the possibility that they dont want to i will kill the girls. That doesnt get them anything. It gives them no advantage at all. Right now, they are the center of world attention. If they kill the girls, that goes away. That is the best thing for them at this point then, going for the young women. John campbell, appreciate your insight. Thank you so much. When we return, an overlooked killer, tuberculosis. You think in the united and europe, as well, theres been a feeling that t. B. Has been addressed, that we have beaten it and theres been complacency and less advocacy and the feeling that it is an old disease. Why a disease easily treatable and curable loses out to other diseases in the competition for precious resources. As the fight for chicago braces for another bloody summer, america tonight returns to the south side where even if they cant stop the violence, the community is in a fight to save its own. The latest report on the fight for chicago, friday on america tonight. Im Joe Berlinger this is the System People want to believe that the Justice System works. People wanna believe that prosecutors and police do the right thing. I think every american needs to be concerned about that. We do have the best Justice System in the world, in theory. The problem is, its run by human beings. Human beings make mistakes. Id like to think of this show as a watch dog about the system. To make sure justice is being served. Wrongful convictions happen, we need to be vigilant. With our personal liberties taken away from us, it better be done the right way. Is justice really for all . Audiences are intelligent and they know that their needs are not being met by american tv news today. Entire media culture is driven by something thats very very fast. There has been a lack of fact based, in depth, serious journalism, and we fill that void. There is a huge opportunity for Al Jazeera America to change the way people look at news. We just dont parachute in on a story. Quickly talk to a couple of experts and leave. One producer may spend 3 or 4 months, digging into a single story. At al jazeera, there are resources to alow us as journalists to go in depth and produce the kind of films. The people that you dont see anywhere else on television. We intend to reach out to the people who arent being heard. We wanna see the people who are actually effected by the news of the day. Its Digging Deeper its asking that second, that third question, finding that person no one spoken to yet. You cant tell the stories of the people if you dont get their voices out there, and Al Jazeera America is doing just that. Saturday on tech know. We probably ought to put the goggles on now. Visionary technology. These goggles will help surgeons detect tumors that are less than one millimeter in size. Life changing. These have the potential to revolutionize the way that we approach patients with mini cancers. Tech know, every saturday go where science meets humanity. This is some of the best driving ive every done, even though i cant see. Tech know. Were here in the vortex. Saturday, 7 30 eastern. Only on Al Jazeera America. Even under the best circumstances, theres never enough money or time or resources to do everything needed. For the worlds aid agencies, that means a solomons choice, invest in one or split what little there is, diluting both efforts to help. In vietnam, h. I. V. And tuberculosis compete for limited resources. The outcome can pit one need against another. [ crying ] one month after the baby was born, she started getting a fever. She started coughing a lot like five or seven times a day. At just five months old, this womans granddaughter was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Every time she coughed, it was almost impossible for her to breathe. Even though tuberculosis in a survivable, curable disease, it is one of vietnams most deadly killers. 18,000 people die of it almost every year. Thats twice as many People Killed in road accidents. Even more frustrating to Health Workers is that almost half of cases in vietnam go undetected, turning a treatable condition into an airborne killer. The problem is money, effectively fighting the deceased on a global scale would take more than a billion and a half dollars in additional funding annually. I cannot believe that t. B. Doesnt get the attention that it deserves. The aim is to find t. B. Cases early, identify too burke close and put it on effective treatment. With the current funding, i think the t. B. Program is not able to reach out to all of those in the community that have symptoms. Health Officials Say t. B. Doesnt get the attention it needs because of higher profile diseases like h. I. V. I think in the United States and europe, as well, theres been a feeling that t. B. Has been addressd, that we have beaten it, and theres been com playsency there and as a result less advocacy and a bit of a feeling that p. B. Is an old disease. It doesnt get quite as much attention. Even the biggest pool of money that supports p. B. Detection and prevention, the global fund sets its priorities on other health chiropractor fights. 55 of its grants go to h. I. V. , 28 to malaria. Too burke close which kills almost as many people worldwide as aids gets just 16 . This little girl was one, undetected. Her grandmother hopes it isnt too late. In the poor neighborhoods, Health Clinics are well aware that the difference in funding for t. B. Can mean the difference between life and death. If we had more support from the international community, it would help vietnam do t. B. Prevention work, prevent the spread of t. B. And reduce the number of patients in the future. We do our work in silence to serve the patients. Our work isnt celebrated like that of people who work in other fields. Part of the problem lice with vietnam, failing to meet its funding targets. Even worse, the government that cut its 2014p. B. Budget by 30 . The director of seat maam said t. B. Program admits it worries him. It really concerns me in terms of p. B. Control. If the funding for t. B. Are not increased enough so people are going to die, could be going to die. A view echoed by International Aid agencies. I find t. B. A compelling disease, and i think i did should be a priority for all of us who are involved in public health, so i dont understand why it doesnt get more attention and why its neglected. If there isnt enough funding or awareness or ability to diagnose and treat people with t. B. , it has a huge impact on the communities, because were talking about people dying, people dying slowly, and painfully over time. The grandmother fears for the childs future as she struggles to recover. While she was being treated, i was anxious to know what happened to her. The doctor only said that she was in serious condition and nothing else. I feel very sorry for her every time i see her coughing. If i had known she had the disease, she would have taken the right medicine. She is very young and it hurts to see the doctor operate on her. I hope the doctor can figure out and treat the disease quickly so she can grow up healthy and go to school with her friends. Ahead in our final thoughts, this hour, voices from both sides. Where a river runs through the debate on Border Control, how a Texas Community is banding together. So many money stories sound complicated. But dont worry. Im here to take the fear out of finance. Every night on my show i break down confusing financial speak and make it real. Real reporting that brings you the world. This is a pretty dangerous trip. Security in beirut is tight. More reporters. They dont have the resources to take the fight to al shabaab. More bureaus, more stories. This is where the typhoon came ashore. Giving you a real global perspective like no other can. Al jazeera, nairobi. On the turkeysyria border. Venezuela. Beijing. Kabul. Hong kong. Ukraine. The artic. Real reporting from around the world. This is what we do. Al jazeera america. The United States has been calling for more security, tougher Border Controls especially since 9 11. In a remote area of west texas, one community is fighting for less Border Control. We traveled there to see why many are willing to break the law to fight for a community they say needs both sides to survive. Were not like the rest of the borders. We dont have the same problems that they have, and they have legitimate problems and legitimate reasons for closing, but its a totally different situation here. In the tiny border town in texas, the total population is fewer than 200 people, but its never difficult to draw a crowd to the porch of the local saloon. Today, the gathering of neighbors is about more than music. Theyre preparing for a musical protest in a fight to reopen a Border Crossing closed after september 11. The small town tucked deep within the desert is a four hour drive from midland, texas. This area is remote. Weve been trying for several hours and only see another car every once in a while. Its one of the most isolated areas along the texas, mexico border and for miles all you see is desert shrub and mountains in the distance. The terrain in this part of the country makes it an unpopular route for migrants. The number of undocumented immigrants apprehended here is the lowest of any other south Border Control sector. When i arrived, i found a group of musicians preparing for an unusual form of civil disobedience. [ applause ] we call this a fiesta protesta, which is a, you know, mild mannered way of doing whats still legal on the border. What exactly are you protesting . The fact that the borders closed. They remember when their border with mexico was open and free. Thing with tourism to go over there. People were making money and having a living. There must have been sitting or 70 People Living there and now there may be one and a half families there left. Friends and families could cross the river between the neighboring sister towns for work, food and fun, and no Border Patrol agents would block the way. It was so accessible and friendly. How would you get to the other side . You would get in the boat and they would take you across and they would charge your fee, a buck or two bucks and of course youd tip the guy. No pat port needed . No. No id . No, just a couple bucks and a guy in a boat. Yeah. Things changed after september 11. Border control tightened, Border Agents tripled, life changed in the villages, too, the inform am crossings closed. Communities on each side of the border were cut off from each other and threatened with jail time for crossing the river. Now, it takes four hours to drive through the closest legal crossing. These musicians are hoping to change that. All we got to do is start the conversation and help us change it back. Mike, whats your plan, how do you want your voice to impact what happens at the border . Help get the word out. Its just a matter of awareness. If you go up and down the border, residents, politicians are not happy with the way it is, the status quo right now. What all these changes have brought about is just the honest people dont have a way to make a living, so they have to go away somewhere. Thats really sad. Thats what happened in the mexican village. Mike davidson, who is also director of the local tourism counsel took me to that community, nestled next to big ben National Park. People go there and have simple meal. The crossing to the mexican town was closed in 2002, cutting off american tourism from across the river. This is part of the experience. This is the classic experience. You take the boat, you come across, you pay 5, you ride a donkey. Then you go in and get a beer. Yep. We rode to the center on a donkey. Unpaved roads are lined with only a few bars and restaurants. The town is so secluded it is off the power grid. The restaurant uses solar refrigerators. Here, locals told me the border closing ruined the town. When they closed, it was sad, its like no people, nothing. Just like deserted, a ghost town. It was asked. Lilia fall cones father spent 30 years building his restaurant and gift shop and depended on tourism to make a living. She remembers the day when people stopped coming and her mother shut down the shop. She just worked so much packing everything. Thats how hard it was. I can still feel it. The village started to vanish. Like most people here, lilia left to find other work, but then the town got a reprieve. So they built this knowing that the crossing was going to be reopened. This is part of the whole plan. Last year, big bens National Park officials, locals and elected officials persuaded the department of Homeland Security to reopen the crossing. They successfully argued that it increases security because it gives locals a legal option to cross. The Community Came back to life. Lilia and her family came back to the town that is home. Do you remember what went through your head when you heard the words the border will reopen . I started telling my mom, calling every Family Member that i had a contact with, god opened another door for us. I totally believe in god, so he opened the door for the whole town. The porch musicians and their neighbors hope a door will open for them, too. Its time for the fiesta protesta. [ music ] under the watchful eye of Border Agents, towns people test the waters, crossing to the other side, technically illegally to reunite with family or friends. Im afraid of the immigration. Living in texas, because of the closed crossing hasnt seen her sister in two years. Its been a year since she hugged her mom. Without this open, however do you have to travel to see each other . Four hours. She doesnt want to be arrested so sent her daughters into the water to deliver flowers. Gradually, the border became invisible and the family from mexico crossed over to the texas side to spend this day together, like old times. Tell me how that was, walking through the river to get here. Throughout the day, hundreds defied the law, including texans who crossed over to the mexican side to play and sing in the band. [ music ] although Border Patrol agents made no arrests, they told us they will continue to enforce the law. But for a few hours, this valley and river became one community again, giving hope to the people who have raised their voices in protest that the borders in this town may one day be reopened for good. [ music ] aljazeera, texas. The community certainly enjoyed its one day celebration. Does the city have a shot at getting the crossing reopened personally . For the moment, we heard from correspondent whos talked to federal officials about it. Just doesnt look like it. Thats it for us here on america tonight. If youd like to comment on stories youve seen here, log on to aljazeera. Com americatonight. Join the conversation on twitter and facebook. Good night. Well have more of america tonight tomorrow. Americas economy just had the worst quarter in three years. Dont panic. I am take cing a look at the big picture to put it in perspective for you. Amazon goes to war with a major publisher over the price you pay for ebooks but there is so much more at stake than that. I am talking a best selling is author of the bone collector. Forget necessity. I am talking to a real mother of envision about what it takes to get your product idea sold in stores. I am ali velshi. This is real money