History of US-Mexico border Wall
- 15shantorx
- Apr 24, 2019
- 2 min read
The barriers were built from 1994, under the presidency of Bill Clinton, as part of three larger "operations" to taper transportation of illegal drugs manufactured in Latin America and immigration: Operation Gatekeeper in California, Operation Hold-the-Line
in Texas, and Operation Safeguard
in Arizona. (George H. W. Bush built the initial 14 miles along the San Diego/Tijuana border.
97% of border apprehensions (foreign nationals who are caught being in the U.S. illegally) by the Border Patrol in 2010 occurred at the southwest border. The number of Border Patrol apprehensions declined 61% from 1,189,000 in 2005 to 723,840 in 2008 to 463,000 in 2010. The decrease in apprehensions may be due to a number of factors, including changes in U.S. economic conditions and border enforcement efforts. Border apprehensions in 2010 were at their lowest level since 1972.
In December 2016 apprehensions were at 58,478, whereas in March 2017, there were 17,000 apprehensions, which was the fifth month in a row of decline.
The Secure Fence Act of 2006 authorized the construction of hundreds of miles of fencing along the Mexican border. The 1,954 miles (3,145 km) border between the United States and Mexico traverses a variety of terrains, including urban areas and deserts.
The barrier is located on both urban and uninhabited sections of the border, areas where the most concentrated numbers of illegal crossings and drug trafficking have been observed in the past. These urban areas include San Diego, California and El Paso, Texas.
By May 2011, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported completing 649 miles (1,044 km) of fencing (99.5% of the 652 miles planned). The barrier was made up of 299 miles (481 km) of vehicle barriers and 350 miles (560 km) of pedestrian fence.
The fencing includes a steel fence (varying in height between 18 and 26 feet) that divides the border towns of Nogales, Arizona in the U.S. and Nogales, Sonora in Mexico.
A 2016 report by the Government Accountability Office confirmed that the government had completed the fence by 2015.
A 2017 GAO report noted: "In addition to the 654 miles of primary fencing, CBP has also deployed additional layers of pedestrian fencing behind the primary border fencing, including 37 miles of secondary fencing and 14 miles of tertiary fencing."
As a result of the barrier, there has been a marked increase in the number of people trying to cross areas that have no fence, such as the Sonoran Desert and the Baboquivari Mountain in Arizona.
Such immigrants must cross fifty miles (80 km) of inhospitable terrain to reach the first road, which is located in the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation.
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