James O'Keefe Crosses the Rio Grande in Bin Laden Costume
Video highlights unguarded footbridge spanning U.S.-Mexico border.

By Steven Nelson Aug. 11, 2014 | 1:21 p.m. EDT + More

In his latest video, investigative journalist and activist James O’Keefe dresses as Osama bin Laden and splashes across a knee-deep river into the United States.

Border patrol agents are nowhere to be seen as the conservative filmmaker aping the dead terrorist crosses the upper Rio Grande.

O’Keefe, known for headline-grabbing probes that often feature disguises and trickery, released the video Monday through his group Project Veritas to illustrate the lack of security along the U.S.-Mexico border in West Texas.

Though most immigrants who cross the southern border without legal permission are citizens of Mexico or other Latin American countries, people from South Asia and Africa are among those recently apprehended, according to press reports.

O’Keefe says he wanted to expose the U.S.’s vulnerability and scoffs at the possibility he violated Mexican laws by entering that country without proper paperwork.

“I had my passport with me, but no one on either side of the border was there to stamp it,” he tells U.S. News. “There are roughly 12 million illegal Mexicans in the United States, so my potentially violating the laws of Mexico would make the net immigration tally 12 million to one.”

In addition to exposing the ease of crossing what is essentially a muddy creek east of El Paso, O’Keefe highlights an unguarded footbridge in Hudspeth County, Texas, that allows people to scamper over the river without getting their feet wet.

Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West tells O’Keefe on camera he’s not sure President Barack Obama cares about the unguarded bridge.

The Associated Press reported in 2010 that the bridge and a similar structure nearby bracket a $2.4 billion border fence and are intended to slow erosion. A border patrol official told the AP the bridges are surrounded by underground sensors that alert authorities to undocumented intruders.

But O’Keefe says his team was near the bridges over two days and that no federal agents responded.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately comment on the video.

Update:
In a Tuesday afternoon statement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Roger Maier said O’Keefe’s escort from the local sheriff led border patrol agents to believe locations shown in the video were secure.

“U.S. Border Patrol agents were working in the area when they noted a convoy of vehicles approaching the border area from within the United States,” Maier said. “Border Patrol agents confirmed that vehicles were associated with the Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Office and that the HCSO vehicles did not require any additional engagement.”

Maier said sheriff’s office personnel are often seen near the border and that federal officers were unaware a reporter was along for the ride.

“The group was not challenged further since their presence is routine and agents did not observe any suspicious activity originating from Mexico,” Maier said. “In its entirety, the reporter’s video clip misrepresents the facts associated with this event.”