Thanks for joining us. Tonight, among mexicanamericans in the southwest, theres a saying. They didnt cross the border but rather the border crossed them. A simple truth about the long and bitter history of their heritage and their land, seized and claimed by the u. S. Its the latest in our series on reparations. But first some background from abcs whoopi goldberg. Many people think of the dividing line between the u. S. And mexico as fixed, as something thats always been there, but 172 years ago, what we now consider the southwest wasnt part of the u. S. At all. It was actually the northmost part of mexico. But the u. S. Was not content with what it had, pushing west ward to seize the land that many president s believed was americas destiny. To reach that goal, president james polk provoked war with mexico, after a long and bloody battle. The u. S. Occupied much of mexico. The two countries decided to work up an agreement, and ceded half their country to the united states. This part wa