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In parts of
California and Arizona, a wall already exists.
It runs across rocky deserts, flowing sand dunes and miles of
agricultural land. The wall splits towns and families, marking a
boundary between two countries that used to be one. Busy land
ports of entry and signs written in both Spanish and English
attest to an interdependence that still exists in the bifurcated
cities, faded mining towns and eccentric art outposts that
punctuate the arid landscape.
The border between Mexico and the United States spans some 2,000
miles between San Diego, California and Brownsville, Texas.
Monitored around the clock with ground sensors, cameras and
hundreds of customs and border patrol officers, the wall is
composed of a mash-up of materials: formidable cement slabs,
steel mesh, rusty corrugated metal.
There are oddities along the fence: a home surrounded by
life-sized space alien mannequins and toy UFOs; the statue of a
cow mounted high above the ground near a cattle ranch; and gaps
in the fence occur sporadically without explanation.
A man rode a tricycle in a small California border town past a
grocery store with a one percent sign hanging on the wall.
In Nogales, Arizona's largest international border community,
the wall neatly divides the city. Little else distinguishes the
hillside homes stacked on either side. Drivers entering Mexico
are warned by a sign that firearms and ammunition are
prohibited. At night, a bright neon yellow McDonald's sign
stands out.
Some who live near the border in California and Arizona agree
with U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his
demand that Mexico pay the cost for construction of a wall on
the border between the two countries. Others are deeply
disturbed by it, like Mexico's government.
"It's been stigmatized pretty bad," said Jaime Alvarez, a
retired Army auditor running for Arizona Senate. He works out of
the Democratic party office in the city of Douglas.
Alvarez said residents are worried that too much talk about
border control will distract people from having other important
discussions about education, poverty and healthcare.
Click on http://reut.rs/2e4OGmf to see a related photo essay.
(Writing by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Melissa
Fares and Diane Craft in New York)
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