Build it or don't build it. Seems like everyone has an opinion, and no one is going to change our minds. I don't think too many of our fellow Americans have ever been ON the southern border. Some of us who live in border states have been close, or maybe crossed over at a customs check point, but that is not the same thing as driving ON the border.

My bride and I camped at a little county part called Potrero in 2010. In November. Nice time of the year. Avoid going there in the summer. We were just across the border from Tecate MX. When the wind is right, you can smell the brew. I cannot resist a dirt road, and I am an explorer at heart.

 

This is the type of road along the border. This particular one is around Tecate Peak, which is on the US side. You can see Tecate City MX in the distance. You can also see the wall, the wall road, and the city of Tecate built right up to the border. A lot of nothingness on the US side of the wall. The topography at this location is rolling hills, not too challenging to build a wall.



Here is a shot as we got a little closer.


And here is a shot from about as close as we got to the actual steel wall.


The construction of the wall in this area is closely spaced heavy steel posts, with a solid panel at the top to make it difficult to scale. I don't have a value, but this wall is tall! It dwarfs the pickup trucks that the border patrol agents use to patrol on the wall road.

 

As the terrain gets rougher, with taller mountains and deeper ravines, the wall stops. At the time of construction, the terrain itself was considered a natural barrier (it isn't really). It was more about difficulty of construction, and where vehicles could not go. This shot is a little west of the previous, and the wall does not extend through here. But it certainly isn't difficult to walk through. I know, because Bocephus and I walked it. And we saw the locations where, I'm going to call them what they are, the Illegal Immigrants had rested, maybe set up a camp. Not hard to tell, because of all the trash they left behind. I suppose some of them practiced "Tread Lightly" and therefore I did not find their camps. I found plenty who left more than footprints.



At intervals along the non-fenced border, markers like these define the actual border.


Here, Carol and Bocephus stand on one of the markers. She was a bit nervous about the whole thing, and is very carefully standing on the side of the good ole' USA. I was bold enough to venture a few yards into Mexico, and Bocephus wasn't the least bit concerned. As you can see, we are at some altitude here, with a magnificent view of the valley, and even west toward the Pacific. I recall there was a good sized lake in the distance, but I don't think I got a pic of it. Too far out there.

 

Another view of the terrain.


This is Tecate Peak.


On top of Tecate Peak are communication towers, and an excellent vantage point for the Border Patrol agents. I kept a respectful distance from this officer while he performed his duty. It is technically illegal to photograph a federal law enforcement officer while on duty, so this shot was taken quickly from behind the hood of my truck. These guys carry some seriously powerful binoculars by the way. It wasn't long before he apparently saw something, and raced away with apparent purpose. No time to chat. We did chat with another group of agents who passed us on the roads. I'm pretty sure there was a purpose to their chat. But they seemed satisfied that we were tourists and not coyotes, and we were not asked for identification as I recall.

 

We saw some interesting equipment laying around and along the roads. For example, a rotary sweeping brush that is towed behind a truck, for the purpose of sweeping the dirt so that fresh footprints will show up and can then be tracked.

Can a wall be built along this entire area? In my opinion, yes. Will it be effective in this area? I'm not sure about that. My observation was that the BP was pretty much ignoring the fenced area, other than just driving along the road looking for obvious damage. They concentrated all of their effort at watching the rough terrain areas. The wall was like a deflection, sending traffic elsewhere. The peaks and canyons of the terrain make it impossible to see clearly, and an army of people could be hiding in those areas. Maybe that means a wall would help, or maybe a wall in a canyon, which water and wildlife still has to flow through, is a waste of time.

I understand the fence construction is different in other parts of the country. Texas for example, has a lot of unfenced area where the long distances and climate were at one time considered an effective deterrent, as well as more expensive to build such length. But as easier places to cross were secured with fencing or whatever, that natural deterrent is not stopping the determined illegal immigrant, sometimes to their own demise.

These thoughts are what I can offer without becoming political. Should the US welcome all who want to come. Should we just give up and have an open border? Should we build walls/fences? Or other means of controlling migration? Decide the politics for yourselves, but I think near 100% of us can agree the present system is a failure. Unfortunately I don't think our politicians are being honest about the topic, from left or right.

 

 

 

 

When Huell visited the southeast corner of CA, there is no wall where the Colorado River is.

While filming took place, people strolled thru the shallow water heading north without a care in the world.

'Ol Huell said howdy-do and some responded in kind.

I doubt Trump's wall will be erected, but even if it is, the illegals will find a way to circumvent it. Ask yourself this, if you lived south of the border, wouldn't you want to come here too?

 

 

 

 

No wall is going to be 100% effective. A wall can be a significant barrier, and it takes a person some time to get over/under/through. A wall must have observation support. Meaning, it has to be patrolled. If you leave a wall without support, a few minutes with a cutting torch, or sledge hammer, or explosives, it will be breached. We already have personnel observing the border. Those agents would be much more effective if their targets were delayed for a few minutes while attempting to breach.

But do we need a wall? Maybe we should just stop making it so damned inviting to come here. We roll out a welcome mat with one hand, and build a wall with the other.

 

 

Well Tedster, I was hoping we could avoid the politics, before this gets shut down. Even though I realized from the beginning, this is a political hot potato.

We and our forefathers have built a great country, the envy of most of the world. Not everyone wants to come here, but a very large portion of the world does. As Numberdummy said, who can blame them? Whether we would/could/should be able to welcome anyone who wants to come, is where it gets political.

In light of the current government shut-down, over the subject of adding to our existing southern border wall, it occurred to me that 99% of those with an opinion have never actually seen the borderland. Which if they could, might inform their opinions. I myself have only seen a tiny little piece of it here in So Cal, but I can at least share that little bit.