Illegal Immigrants get "Crossing trainers" for Shoes

The BBC reports that artist Judy Werthein has designed a special boot sneaker to aide illegal immigrants coming from Mexico cross the American border. The terrain they cross is usually rocky and full of tarantulas and danger, and they usually cross at night to avoid being caught.

Werthein equipped the shoes, which are named Brincos after the Spanish word for "jump" and also the term for crossing the border, with items that usually are not found in shoes. She says,

"The shoe includes a compass, a flashlight because people cross at night, and
inside is included also some Tylenol painkillers because many people get injured
during crossing" .

The shoe also has a removeable insole that has a map of the most popular immigrant routes to America. Werthein was inspired to design the shoes because the immigrant's main vehicle are their feet. The shoes are ankle-high, and are green, red, black and yellow. On the heel is the Aztec eagle, and on the toes is the American eagle to symbolize the American dream. When Werthein passes the shoes out at shelters, she finds that they are some peoples' first pair of shoes ever.

Some say that Werthein's shoes are giving Mexicans incentive to illegally cross the border, but she disagrees. She claims she is just provoking an important discussion and that"The real incentive for illegal immigrants is Americans' demand for cheap labour."

Werthein's actions can be compared to conductors of the Underground Railroad. White abolitionists and freed slaves, such as Harriet Tubman, helped escaped slaves travel to safety without being caught by their former masters. This practise led to arrests or $4000 fines and was highly dangerous.