Once things warmed up above 50, closer to 60 degrees Fahrenheit this morning, I headed out on Scarlett, my 2014 Ural Patrol sidecar rig to check out the wall.
The wall I mean of course is the one put up by the US government along the Mexican Border to try and stem the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico. Trying to avoid politics as usual, but the only thing that kept coming up in my mind was something I learned while in the army: An unobserved obstacle is no obstacle. More on this concept in a moment.
First, I headed west from the border station, riding along the wall, trying to get a bit closer to that big cut on the side of the hill spanned by the wall. On the other side is the Tohono O'odham Nation Reservation. I did some research (see links at end of this post) and there's NO fence on Reservation land!
The Reservation's Native American police work in conjunction with the US Border Patrol apparently but yeah, no fence. Apparently, the Tohono O'odham Nation had issues with the wall impeding movement of its people. The reservation you see, sits astride the US/Mexico Border!
The top of the hill is the cut I mentioned, below
is a zoom closeup of it.
Looking east, you can see the Border Patrol station
and Customs Building.
A zoomed in view of the cut on the hillside to the
east of the border crossing.
The wall creates this sort of surreal art work imagery
as it follows the terrain contours.
Just showing you how close the Baboquivari Peak
is located to the border.
I then rode east along the wall, to get closer to the other hillside cut.
Along the way, I spied a stone monument and paused to examine it.
The plaque is rusted and impossible to read in full anymore. Below is the best I could get after some post-processing.
Back to the army concept taught to me while in the army. I saw at least two large gaps in the wall; apparently where dried up creek beds once ran? Its apparently these gaps where Coyotes (men who take illegals near these points and point/lead them across).
I ran into a lady nearby, who introduced herself as Butterfly and said she was a volunteer with an outfit called Outlaws against Pedophiles. She UDF'ed me for a bit, being also a motorcycle rider but spent most of the time talking about how Mexicans are using gaps in the wall such as these to sneak children into the country, for nefarious ends as human trafficking under the auspices of the drug cartels.
Yes, the US Border Patrol does and did drive by a couple of time while I was there but she remarked coverage isn't exactly 100%. She was quite vocal about a group of 38 kids she spotted and tried to help just the other night. As I understood it, her group tries to get help to these kids who otherwise will end up being abused by human traffickers and pedophiles in a vicious cycle. If you wish to have more information from her, see link at end of this post.
I saw what looked like a small chapel, probably
housing religious statuary perhaps?
Religious expressions in Spanish
In a rather more downcast and sober mood, I rode back into town thinking to fill up the spare gas cans at the Sasabe Store. No luck, they're closed on Tuesdays! Their gas pumps' credit card mechanisms weren't working so no gas for me today.
As I put stuff away, I saw this Sammy pull up from the nearby J. Barker Custom Knives lot. I spoke briefly with the driver and he let me take photos while he went into the Post Office.
Between Mile Marker 7 and 8, is the main entrance to the BANWR, I posed Scarlett next to the sign as I headed back to the campsite near Mile Marker 16.
Got back after 2:30 PM I think, spent the rest of the afternoon reading under the shade of the umbrella I rigged onto my lounge chair. This way, the heat of the sun flowed through but I wasn't exposed to its rays.
More Info on Sasabe, the border town itself. Of note, it's owned (the town) by a Mexican National!
Link to a playlist of the videos by Butterfly, the lady I met on the border. I told her I'd put a link in the video. LINK. Based on what I recall of her conversation with me, her views might be viewed as extreme by some. YMMV, I am not verifying her content, just pointing out her info.
True SonjaM, the Berlin wall was definitely more effective but also controlled a smaller area. This wall is basically a monument to the vagaries of political will.
2 comments:
Reminds me of the Berlin wall except this one has less concrete, no barbwire and no firing order.
True SonjaM, the Berlin wall was definitely more effective but also controlled a smaller area. This wall is basically a monument to the vagaries of political will.
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