A Nation Divided: the Border Wall, Immigration and Citizenship on the U.S. Mexico Border

Last week we interviewed elected officials who hold office around Hidalgo County about the combined border wall–levee structure that passes through the majority of the county. ?One construction site that has been a focal point for this study is the Hidalgo Pumphouse and World Birding Center in the town of Hidalgo. ?The renovation of the Pumphouse and the creation of a world birding center are part of larger project undertaken in Hidalgo to transform the area, making it more attractive for tourists and residents alike. ? The border wall project bisects the pumphouse/world birding center, so in our conversations with elected officials we were keen to learn about their interaction with DHS during the construction process. We learned that DHS was responsive to the concerns of elected leaders. ?For instance, they agreed to include a large gate in the wall at the pumphouse-birding center so that people would still be able to traverse their hike and bike trails. ?From what we understand, there will be a border patrol gaurd at the gate, but s/he will be under orders not to ask for papers when individuals cross through the gated area. ? ?The gate will be closed when the center does at the end of the day. ?We also learned that the visitors will not be able to see the border wall from the north side of the property. DHS will build ground up around it so that it looks like a green hill–or something that looks as though it came from mother nature. ?The view from the south side, however, will not be scenic or blend into the surrounding landscape.

Margaret wants to shift the tone of this blog to a more personal level. ?On our trip on Sunday, we ran across a couple of border patrol agents walking along the property. ?They were young and polite (unlike agents we ran across at other places along the border wall that we visited on Sunday) and armed. ?Margaret still finds it shocking to be walking around a birding center with her two young children and see heavily armed men, or –for that matter–in a Subway buying a sandwich and see another two heavily armed men ordering sandwiches. ?Margaret sees the pistols and bullet proof vests and becomes nervous. These armed men are not police. It is not their job to protect her from criminals. ?Their job is immigration. ? Why do they need to be wearing pistols in public places? ?It’s one thing for an agent to be out in the bush by him/herself but driving around in towns in SUV’s and buying sandwiches–are the arms necessary in such places?

Below we include some photos from the pumphouse of the wall and where we think that the gate might be located.

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Old pipes that would have been used to transport the pumped water from the Rio Grande (this canal was the Rio Grande until a hurricane in 1933 re-routed the river) to other parts of Hidalgo County.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 8:12 pm and is filed under border wall. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.