Synopsis

A feverish collage follows Mexican migrants attempting to cross into the United States, presenting the journey as a brutal, chaotic struggle rather than a simple passage from one country to another. Grainy images of desert travel, border enforcement, pursuit, violence, and detention are cut together with lurid scenes resembling an exploitation movie. The pounding, guitar-heavy instrumental gives the sequence an urgent, confrontational rhythm, while the contrast between sensational cinema and real-world imagery turns the video into a pointed statement about immigration and the human cost of border policy.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was released in October 2011, shortly after the album "The Less You Know, The Better."

• Its visual style deliberately imitates 1980s grindhouse and B-movie filmmaking, using rough image quality, aggressive editing, and sensational imagery.

• The clip combines staged or cinematic-looking material with footage connected to real border-crossing incidents, making the exploitation aesthetic part of its political argument.

• Contemporary coverage linked the video's subject matter to opposition to Arizona's controversial anti-immigration legislation.

• The Vimeo production credits list Dean Fernando as producer, editor, and colorist. Josh Davis and Jamal Chalabi are credited as executive producers.

• "Border Crossing" is one of the album's most overtly rock-influenced tracks. DJ Shadow said the guitars on the song are entirely sampled, an approach that helps explain the video's unusually forceful, hard-edged tone.