High Ground
Up on D Hill, you can see all around this valley in a 360 degree panorama that includes Agua Prieta/Douglas, the sprawling desert scrub lands leading up to the far away mountains, and the road out to where the new section of the barrier wall is being built. It’s the perfect place for a big tower full of high definition zooming cameras and and fleet of border patrol cars. As I walked up the road to the hill, I was passed by at least a half dozen border patrol cars, vans, paddy wagons, and at one point a convoy of camouflage-painted step vans with camouflage-dressed armed men huddled inside. A plane flew low overhead. And as I looked out from the hill, I could see the miles and miles of the wall stretching across the landscape like a scar. I couldn’t see, but know about, the many motion detectors hidden all over the valley. The other day we spotted a surveillance blimp in the distance. There are checkpoints on the roads. The desert itself is used as a weapon. ...