The Wall

As I was doing a little scouting around near the Rio Grande River, I came upon a lot of big time construction. There were numerous huge earth movers, monster dump trucks, bull dozers, flat bed 18-wheelers loaded with steel, cement trucks, cement pumpers, and tall cranes . . . all out in the middle of nowhere!



Could this be "The Wall" we have all heard so much about? The whole area was posted with "Restricted Area" signs and, as I learned, was patrolled by construction company security personnel. When I was told, "No pictures", and that I had to leave, I tried to engage the security officer in conversation. I asked, "Is this the wall I've heard so much about?" and he said he couldn't talk about it . . . I simply had to leave! My insistence that this wall was being built with my tax money didn't seem to influence him, so I took another quick picture before I got back in the blazer to leave.

The Rio Grande River (and the border with Mexico) winds all over the place, so since "The Wall" is being constructed in a fairly straight line it is quite a distance North of the border in many places. Some homes and businesses will be between the river/border and "The Wall". Those people will have to evacuate leaving their land and buildings behind.

All along "The Wall" a dike nearly as tall as the wall with a roadway on top is being constructed on the US side. "The Wall" appears to be at least thirty feet high, made of steel and concrete, and where it is finished or under construction, stretches as far as the eye can see. The cost obviously has to be in the billions.
















Mayors and town councils of all of the communities along the border oppose "The Wall" as do many of the area residents. "No Wall" yard signs are quite common in the area. The local newspaper editorial pages talk of hope that the new administration in Washington will tackle the illegal immigrant problem in other ways. The Homeland Security Director, Michael Chertoff, who has been the primary proponent of "The Wall", is certainly not a popular person around here.
















But, if the new administration stops building "The Wall", what will we do with just half a wall?