Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Border Protection Wall, San Luis, Mexico....and More

We opted to head south to the Mexico/Arizona border at San Luis, yesterday.  We took the long way to get there; following US-95 north, east and south; through the the communities of Somerton, and Gadsden before arriving at the border city of San Luis.  Along the way - at the town of Gadsden - I was curious to have a closer look at the border protection fence built to keep Mexicans from freely entering into the US of A. US Border Patrol The Wall

Gadsden is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The population was 953 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Yuma Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 953 people, 236 households, and 206 families residing in the CDP.(Wikipedia)

When the border protection wall was in view, I chose to turn off US-95 and ride the 1/2 block to the fence to take photos.  Well, well, well, surprise, surprise surprise.....there was a US border guard in his car...and I firmly believe I startled him.  I thought it best to simply turn around and ride further south to capture the photos below.  We did just that....but I am certain he noted my motorcycle license number. LOL
US Customs and Border Protection spent $2.4 billion between 2006 and 2009 to complete 670 miles of border fence, and the vast majority of that was single-layer — one line of fencing designed to keep either pedestrians or vehicles from crossing into the United States, according to a Government Accountability Office report. (By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News)
The payoff of all this infrastructure is unclear. Illegal entries to the United States fell 69 percent between 2006 and 2011, while drug and contraband seizures nearly doubled, the GAO said in a March report. At the same time, the report said, Customs could not account for the impact of the fence. ( By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News)
There is talk to build more of this fencing along the US/Mexico border. 

The new plan calls for a double-layer fence — two parallel barriers on either side of a corridor manned by Border Patrol — that would require more land acquisition, more supplies and more labor to build. There is no firm cost for the fence outlined in the "border surge" agreement announced Thursday, and the price of previous fence construction has varied wildly. A 2009 analysis by the GAO found that the cost of pedestrian fencing ranged between $400,000 and $15 million per mile with an average of $3.9 million a mile. The price of less expensive vehicle fencing ran anywhere from $200,000 to $1.8 million a mile, for an average of $1 million a mile.
( By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News)


From Gadsden, we rode further south into the small city of San Luis (the border entry point into Mexico - due south from Yuma, AZ.
One would believe that San Luis was in Mexico.  The signage is mainly in Spanish and the make up of the stores and those who work in them - customers too - is more prevalent Mexican.
We did ride around the downtown core but there was not much of an appeal for us to stop so we toured some of the outskirts before we headed east and north on US-195 toward Yuma and I-8.  We took one small detour to the fairly new truck border station just east from San Luis.  It is a first class facility.  We did not stop to take photos. 
US-195 east and south towards Yuma and I-8
Back in Yuma, we dropped by Bernie and Rita's place for an afternoon visit.  We sat out in the sun before I gave a brief consult on their Windows 8 lap top. 
Offering a few more computer tips.....
We said our good byes and stopped at a food outlet to gather a few necessary items before riding back to our RV site in the Yuma Foothills.

While fueling the motorcycle, this group showed up.  I have seen many different side car styles but these topped anything I've ever seen before.  I doubt that I would like to ride a motorcycle with a side-car.  It seems to me that the two wheel pleasure would be lost.
The day before, we stayed closer to home.  We did take advantage to walk some of the local paths in our area though.  Some of the groomed trails offered the opportunity to watch the elusive road runners. 



Although most often difficult to take photos of the road runner, above,  stood tall for a few seconds to afford Jeanette a decent photo.
Back at our RV site, Jeanette did some laundry and we spent a couple of hours enjoying the mid-afternoon sun.
Our very nice and private RV site in the Yuma Foothills.
Catching up on some reading while gazing at the sky, on occasion, to see the new F-35 jets being checked out by the pilots from the air field here in Yuma.  Sleek and ominous looking jet the F-35 is.
And that's about it in terms of colouring our activities these past few days.  

Golf beckons again today.....so it's off to the links for a mid-afteroon round.

Thanks for dropping by.

8 comments:

  1. Nice blog. One minor correction regarding I-95. I-95 runs from Maine to Florida, while US-95 runs from the Mexican border south of Yuma up to Quartzsite and then over to California and north. State Route 95 continues from Quartzsite north toward Lake Havasu.

    Confusing?

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  2. Thanks Clark. You are quite right. Changes are made.

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  3. More fun time touring.
    Have been west on I-8 to the free Hot Springs next to the Interstate at the Holtville exit ? Nice spot.

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  4. Whenever I see that border fence I can't help recalling the words of former US President Ronald Reagan: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall". How times have changed.

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  5. We are at the Organ Pipe campground 5 miles north of Lukeville (Sonoyta, Mexico) and there is a clear Border Patrol presence. Every third vehicle on the highway is border patrol going between the Lukeville port of entry and the huge Border Patrol station south of Ajo. It is interesting that in visiting with people they use the terms "illegal aliens" and "drug runners" synonymously when there is a clear difference between the two. Mexicans attempting to cross the border are generally doing so to find a better life. Drug runners have a different motive. It is unfortunate that some in this country can't distinguish between the two. Seems to me that therein lies much of the hostility.

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  6. I believe that I read that the reason for the decline in mexicans coming into the U.S. was the economy and some lack of jobs.

    I do not believe that the ordinary Mexican was the target of the fence, but the drug runners.

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  7. The design of the fence stops only those people seeking a better life and does nothing to stop the flow of drugs. Much of the fence is composed of vertical slats making it an easy matter to pass packages of drugs, cash or guns across to accomplices on either side. Yes, there are heat sensors that show human activity but by the time border patrol gets there, transactions are completed. Ingenious methods have been developed to get much larger packages over the fence, it does not require that much imagination. The fence was a waste of taxpayers money.

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