The line in the sand lives and breathes. The Arizona-Mexico border, over a 24-hour period, tells stories. Tales of desperation, drugs, deception. Of money paid to cross, of dreams dashed. Of sentinels watching as the legal and illegal traffic moves back and forth. By foot, by car, by air — follow five reporters, five photographers and a videographer on the line.

The participants line up on both sides of the boundary that stretches from Douglas to Nogales to the remote lands east and west of Tucson. Sometimes a wall separates them, sometimes a fence, sometimes nothing.

Mario Puella, the Tohono O'odham ranger, finds the border crosser he's been tracking for 26 minutes. The soles of the man's sandals are peeling apart. He's hunched over on the side of the road, groaning quietly and clutching at his chest.

Photo slide show

StarNet video: Mariposa Port of Entry, Nogales

The customs Black Hawk chopper takes a hard right as soon as Officer Bobbi Smith says, "Three o'clock, looks like two under the mesquite, between two water bottles."