Last September, we noted the bizarre theme park of sorts outside Mexico City that aims to recreate the experience of crossing the border illegally, complete with a long hike, fake migra and sirens. The New York Times took a crack at the story Sunday, sending a writer along for the experience. Since operators began offering the four-hour nighttime hikes (or caminatas) a few years ago, about 3,000 tourists, mostly Mexican, have paid about $18 a pop for the experience, writes Patrick O’Gilfoil Healy. “The idea of tourists’ aping illegal immigrants can seem crass, like Marie Antoinette playing peasant on the grounds of Versailles,” he writes. “But the guides describe the caminata as an homage to the path immigrants have beaten across the border.”

Hmmm. Seems pretty crass to me. If it frightened a few would-be migrants out of crossing the border illegally—the long hike across the border’s desert wilderness is all too often deadly—it would have some real value. But I doubt many of those would-be migrants are the ones shelling out $18 for the hike. They’re putting every last penny they have into the $1,500 or more that smugglers charge for the real deal.

For Mexico visitors who are interested, the simulated experience can be had at Parque EcoAlberto, which Healy describes as “an eco-park communally owned by the Hñahñu Indians who live on some 3,000 acres of land in the state of Hidalgo, about three hours northwest of Mexico City (and roughly 700 miles from the border).”

More information can be found, in Spanish, at the park’s Web site.

Related on World Hum:
* Running from Migra at a Mexican Park
* Brinco Shoes: Air Jordans for the Migrant Set
* Enrique’s Journey

Photo by deovolenti, via flickr. Rights: Creative Commons.