Border wall closes forever

2019 IMAGE | The remainder of the wall has now been installed in that eastern area of Anapra. (2019 file photo/Morgan Smith)

ZONE BETWEEN SUNLAND PARK AND ANAPRA MILITARIZED AFTER YEARS OF CHANGES AND TENSIONS

By Morgan Smith

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It was April 19, 2019 when my wife and I first traversed the border wall that separates Sunland Park, New Mexico from Anapra, Mexico. I had photographed what seemed like its shining undulating beauty many times from the Mexico side but in those earlier days, my focus was on assisting existing programs in the Juárez area – schools, mental asylums, home building projects.

With the surge in immigration, however, it seemed essential to follow the narrow dirt road that flanks the wall on the US side and see where the migrants were crossing.

Imagine our surprise when the wall just ended.

Then driving a little farther, we came across a militia encampment. This was the day before the arrest of Larry Hopkins, the leader of the United Constitutional Patriots. He was subsequently sentenced to 21 months in prison for a federal gun charge. That was the end of the militia activity there.

This stretch of wall became, for me, a microcosm of the border control issue. We could drive along it and:

Talk to the always helpful Border Patrol agents.

Take photos and chat with the residents of Anapra who, recognizing my battered Subaru, would rush to the wall and pose for photos in return for a few dollars. One boy named Victor offered to climb the wall for an additional dollar and just scrambled to the top.

I witnessed deeply human scenes

On one occasion, we met a young DACA student who had driven all the way from Oklahoma City to spend a few minutes hugging his mother through the bars; she had driven all the way from Torreón, Mexico.

Another time, I watched as a dozen migrants ran by my car. Twice we watched “coyotes” cross the wall back into Mexico after having presumably led a group of migrants across. One almost vaulted over with a lightweight aluminum ladder and the other scrambled over barehanded.

On numerous occasions, we spoke with Mexican soldiers who had been stationed at the end of the wall. Their version of how well they were controlling the wall always differed dramatically from that of the Border Patrol agents.

On December 24, 2020, we met a Border Patrol agent there who was handing candy and food through the bars of the wall to the Anapra families. She has now taken a medical retirement, lives in El Paso but continues to do charitable work in Mexico.

The area has not stopped transforming

On August 16, 2024, I went up the lower slopes of Monte Cristo Rey with the Border Patrol and we looked down the ridge into Anapra only to see a group of masked young men with cell phones. “Cartel lookouts,” one agent said, jokingly. “They don’t need your dollars for photos any more. They have better jobs with the cartels.”

This area has evolved. No more militia. No more Mexican soldiers, at least for the time being. Normandy barriers up the steep mountainside. Renovation of many of the homes on the Anapra side, indicating that cartels have been paying the residents to allow migrants to hide there while awaiting an attempted crossing. A plan to continue the wall up and over Monte Cristo Rey

On July 23 of this year, we had the opportunity to photograph a Stryker vehicle and interview the soldiers assigned to it. For this I want to thank Army Major Edward Alvarado and Border Patrol agent Claudio Herrera-Baeza, in particular. This was the culmination of observing 6 years of changes and improvements on the part of the Border Patrol, resulting in near-total control of the wall.

Now, however, access has been shut off. On August 8, I was stopped and told that the wall area was now a militarized zone and entry was forbidden. Rather than risk arrest or detention, I complied. For someone who wants to know what is really happening on the border, this is a great loss. I’m going to make an appeal but am not optimistic.