[JOURN 495BJ] Border Angels- The Power of One

Since 1994, 10,000 people have died trying to cross the border between the United States and Mexico, according to Enrique Morones founder of Border Angels. Among those who attempted the journey are men, women and young children. Due to harsh weather conditions, tough terrain and often the expensive price migrants must pay to smugglers, however, many do not make it across.

Founded by Morones in 1986, Border Angels is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance to undocumented immigrants. After bringing food and water to migrants who were living in the canyons of North County San Diego, Morones and the Border Angels expanded their operation by going out to the desert to place water near the recently constructed wall dividing the United States and Mexico, also known as Operation Gatekeeper.

“Before Operation Gatekeeper, one or two people died every month,” said Morones.

“After Operation Gatekeeper, one or two people die every day.”

Border Angels is also known for attending to a cemetery in Holtville, California to pray and place crosses that read “no olvidados” (not forgotten) on the graves of the 700 unidentified migrants laid to rest there.

The Great Wall of North America

The Sun breaches through the southwestern edge of the fence
dividing the United States with Mexico.

For centuries, civilizations have built structures to establish and protect their political boundaries. Perhaps, among the most famous examples is the 5,500-mile-long Great Wall of China and the 96-mile-long Berlin Wall. The United States government has recently initiated construction on a similar structure extending across the 2,000-mile-long border with Mexico.

Born and raised in San Diego, I had never taken the opportunity to check out the mighty fence so I took a trip to Border Field State Park to see its progress. As I walked toward the southwestern edge of the country, I could clearly see to the other side where families and teenagers enjoyed a day at the beach. A border patrol vehicle, however, patrolled my side of the beach just a few feet from where the fence stopped and the rest of the beach continued.

In a geography class last year, I learned many political boundaries are based from topographical features in the area, like the Pyrenees Mts. which naturally divide Spain and France making them one of the more stable borders in Europe. But the only feature that divided U.S. territory with Mexican territory was the 20-foot-tall wall. It was unatural.