Borderzine (https://borderzine.com/tag/border-wall/)
Life in a border city can be like a relationship status on social media. It’s complicated. More than 1 million people live in the El Paso-southern New Mexico region. Another 1.3 million live across the border in Juarez, Mexico. We are separated by an international boundary set along the path of a formerly meandering river.
A Trump administration official on Friday wildly misstated border apprehension figures in justifying the decision to deploy National Guard forces to the border. “Our apprehensions in Fiscal Year 2017 were at the lowest level in 45 years. That said, we have experienced a significant increase over the past 12 months. A 1,200 percent in apprehensions, including the number of family units and unaccompanied children,” Ronald Vitiello, the deputy commissioner for Customs and Border Protection, said at a news conference in El Paso. When asked for data on the 1,200 percent increase claim, a CBP spokesman said Vitiello had misspoken.
EL PASO—Two Hispanic students stood up in protest as the rest of the audience in the auditorium clapped during Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s recent speech at the University of Texas at El Paso. The female students held up signs that read “Education not Militarization” and “Security to Whom?” but only for a few seconds before they were escorted out of the auditorium. As this occurred, I wondered if their removal from a public forum is a violation of their freedom of speech. So I asked the question during my next Communication Law class and found out that what had happened is like screaming fire in a crowded theater: “You can say anything you like as long as you don’t put anyone in danger; Napolitano could claim she was in danger,” said Dr. Barthy Byrd, associate professor in the Department of Communication and an expert on media law. Napolitano barely looked up from the paper she read during her speech to acknowledge what had just happened in the audience. Afterward, she answered a few pre-selected questions that only demonstrated she really does think we owe her our gratitude for protecting the U.S. Southern border. “Some of the safest communities in America are right here on the border,” said Napolitano, claiming that she was not here doing a victory lap.
Any life is expendable for the protection of the empire’s wall
US Border Patrol uses Bullets against Rocks – Again
EL PASO — Americans have become accustomed to the startling images of desperate people climbing their way over chain link fences into the United States, a country they cannot access legally. But that same image of the plight of undocumented immigrants in a constant struggle to improve their lives also can be seen in other countries all over the world. Dr. Said Saddiki, an associate professor from the University of Fes Morocco and a Fulbright Program scholar at UTEP, is studying the flow of undocumented immigrants from Morocco to Spain. “Most people, and the mass media, use the term illegal immigrations,” said Saddiki. “The Border International official document, the official framework of the United Nations, avoids the term illegal immigrations because of its negative connotation.
EL PASO, Texas — Border patrol agents deal with everyday conflicts and apprehensions in the border areas. Chris Karadjov, Donna Pazdera, and Seok Kang tagged along with two border patrol agents, Joe Romero and Ralph Gomez. Contrary to what non-border residents may think, the boundary between the United States and Mexico is not a straight line or a simple division between the two places. The border bisects desert, mountains and urban areas. Each type of terrain calls for simple fencing in desert areas, tall steel mesh in more populated areas and plain rocks markers in mountainous areas or open desert, for example.
Opponents of the Border Wall insist the infrastructure will do little to alleviate border problems. In fact, challengers contend that the Wall’s measures are counteractive, serving as a racist symbol and gauging tax payers while destroying precious El Paso land.