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.