To Israelis, security fences are a familiar sight.
As she stood at the westernmost tip of the international border between Mexico and the United States, 17-year-old Mor Gal-On said the metal fence dividing the two countries appears less imposing than the walls she’s used to in Israel, where she lives.
“The Israeli soldiers don’t watch with a camera – they look you in the eyes,” she said. “Our fences are all electricity too, if you touch them. This seems smaller.”
Maayan Mermoni, 16, of Israel, sits in Border Field State Park near San Ysidro, CA, to hear a presentation on the state of the U.S. and Mexico Border Relationship. Photo by James Gregg.
Mor, who lives on a kibbutz in Southern Israel, was among several Israeli teens who visited Border Field State Park at the edge of the Mexico-U.S. border today. Like many of the teens, she was critical of building walls to divide people.
“Even metaphorically, it’s not human,” she said. “If you can’t build a bridge, don’t build a wall instead.”
The wall between the U.S. and Mexico begins in the Pacific Ocean off a sandy white beach and it’s demarcated with long thin rusted-looking columns of metal. Tijuana residents jog, walk and sunbathe next to the more sparsely occupied American beach.
The westernmost end of the border between Mexico (left) and the United States. Photo by Lindsay Miller.
Enrique Morones of the immigrant aid group Border Angels said the western tip of the international line was once called Friendship Park but the name changed to Border Field State Park when the wall went up in 1994. Before the wall went up, he said Mexican residents used to play soccer there.
Though Enrique laments the day the border fence at Tijuana went up, he was just one of more than a dozen people our team interviewed today, all with varied thoughts on the border region, which many people say is a country of its own.
I liked, especially, your pondering, “many people say (the Border Region) is a country of its own.
As one who lives there, I’ll be looking forward to other posts that will help me realize just why I must agree.
— Kenny Barton 07/20/2006 07:43 AM #
Comments from nieve teenagers,who don’t have to be concerned with dealing with imported crime,and paying for education and bankrupting our hospitals with free medical care are mildly interesting but pointless. Interviews with border patrol and U. S. ranchers who have to deal daily with broken fences, thievery and litter would be more to the point.
— Ray Malone 07/22/2006 09:05 AM #
Naive teenagers may not have much to say on border security, but well-traveled educated teenagers from a region where violence occurs daily on a scale most of us cannot imagine just might have some insights to share. There are many parallels between the security situation in the West Bank and Gaza that we should learn from, the most important of which is that walls between people do not offer protection when the conditions that created the problem are allowed to fester.
— Maria Elena Ibarra 07/22/2006 11:08 AM #
Huzzah, Maria Elena Ibarra!
— Kenny Barton 07/22/2006 11:32 AM #
Why all the fuss about a few miles of fence? Because it works! Mexico’s self-interest is so blatant, they care nothing about their own people, they just want the remittances and the drug money to keep flowing back to Mexico. The only people complaining about the “fence” are the illegal aliens,and the beneficiaries/profiteers of illegal immigration. Play by the rules if you want to live here, millions and millions of others have. No exceptions.
— contessa 10/30/2006 08:35 AM #
I have to agree with contessa, although I’m mexican the guilty of Mexico problems is not what americans did, is what mexican didn’t do in the past.. our ancestors wasted richness and didn’t invest in tecnology, we inflated burocracy and political class so we the productive people have to support a lot of parasites…
— Aaron Martinez 03/17/2007 11:57 AM #
The main reason most people immigrate into the U.S are due to unbearable living conditions caused by civil wars supported and mainly sparked by the United States CIA. They’ve created the Chaos now its their turn to deal with the consequences.
— veronica 04/11/2007 05:54 AM #
In July, a team of Arizona Daily Star journalists traveled from San Diego to Brownsville for a close-up look at what it would take to secure the border. They used this blog to chronicle their experiences and will present a 4-day series of their findings beginning Sunday, Sept. 24.
Current Location:The journey is over. Stay tuned for our special report on the border beginning September 24.
Meet the Team
James Gregg recently joined the staff of the Arizona Daily Star as a
photojournalist after beginning his career in Colorado. James has lived abroad in Ecuador and Costa Rica, and holds a degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of Kansas.
Stephanie Innes is the faith and values reporter for the Star. She has worked at the newspaper since 1999 and previously covered crime. She has also been a reporter for the Tucson Citizen and for the Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff.
Border and Immigration reporter Brady McCombs has been with the Star since February. He recently co-authored the Star's four-part investigative series, "Illegal Labor Fix Falls Short." McCombs, who is bilingual, spent three years working in Costa Rica.
Photographer Lindsay Miller joined the Arizona Daily Star in April 2005, relocating toTucson after working at the Napa Valley Register. She has worked on several documentary projects as well as a variety of local news and features..
Online producer Andrew Satter has been with the Star for more than two years. He oversees online news content relating to the border and politics/elections, has produced dozens of videos and audio slide shows and is a co-creator of the award-winning Border Death Database.
Reader Polls
Week 3 Results
Question: Which border state has the most out-of-control border?
- California - 9%
- Arizona - 53%
- New Mexico - 10%
- Texas - 7%
- Minnesota - 21%
Total number of votes - 68
Week 2 Results
Question: What is the top reason the U.S. needs to secure its borders?
- Stop illegal immigrants from coming into the country - 48%
- Crack down on drug smuggling - 14%
- Stop terrorists from being able to get in - 28%
- An open border poses no immediate threat - 9%
- Protect against human sex slave trafficking - 1%
Total number of votes - 79
Week 1 Results
Question: What should be the first priority in solving the illegal immigration problem?
- Secure the border - 48%
- Workplace enforcement - 21%
- Visa enforcement - 3%
- Institute a guest worker program - 17%
- Take care of non-border-related issues first - 11%
Total number of votes - 150
Border gallery
What does the word 'border' mean to you? Be it the U.S./Mexico border, the Brazilian/Argentinian border or the border between you and your neighbor's house, we want to see your images of this ill-defined concept in our gallery. In the Photo Caption field please tell us the subject of the photo. Submit your photo »»
James Gregg recently joined the staff of the Arizona Daily Star as a
photojournalist after beginning his career in Colorado. James has lived abroad in Ecuador and Costa Rica, and holds a degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of Kansas.
Stephanie Innes is the faith and values reporter for the Star. She has worked at the newspaper since 1999 and previously covered crime. She has also been a reporter for the Tucson Citizen and for the Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff.
Border and Immigration reporter Brady McCombs has been with the Star since February. He recently co-authored the Star's four-part investigative series, "Illegal Labor Fix Falls Short." McCombs, who is bilingual, spent three years working in Costa Rica.
Photographer Lindsay Miller joined the Arizona Daily Star in April 2005, relocating toTucson after working at the Napa Valley Register. She has worked on several documentary projects as well as a variety of local news and features..
Online producer Andrew Satter has been with the Star for more than two years. He oversees online news content relating to the border and politics/elections, has produced dozens of videos and audio slide shows and is a co-creator of the award-winning Border Death Database.
I liked, especially, your pondering, “many people say (the Border Region) is a country of its own.
As one who lives there, I’ll be looking forward to other posts that will help me realize just why I must agree.
— Kenny Barton 07/20/2006 07:43 AM #
— Ray Malone 07/22/2006 09:05 AM #
— Maria Elena Ibarra 07/22/2006 11:08 AM #
— Kenny Barton 07/22/2006 11:32 AM #
— contessa 10/30/2006 08:35 AM #
— Aaron Martinez 03/17/2007 11:57 AM #
— veronica 04/11/2007 05:54 AM #