Border Immersion Part 3

On Friday morning before going to work, I visited Mile Marker One and Oñate Park with the immersion group.  As I've mentioned previously, the Rio Grande serves as the border between Texas and Mexico.  However, when the river heads north, there is no natural boundary between the United States and Mexico; hence the building of the border fence.

Mile Marker One is the first mile marker out of over 1000 that stretch from the point where the Rio Grande no longer serves as the national boundary all the way west to San Diego.  A very unique point about Mile Marker One is its lack of border fence.  I have no idea why there is no fence there, and I haven't found anyone who can give me a plausible answer.  Getting to the area is kind of sketchy- it involves crossing a little, old bridge off the Border Highway and then driving on a dirt road.  However, it's a really interesting place to be, and evidently there are sometimes binational meetings and such that take place there.

Here are some pictures:

The actual mile marker

Looking directly west, Mile Marker Two sits at the top of Mt. Cristo Rey next to the visible white cross

The border in this area.  I'm standing in both countries at once to take this picture (although it's illegal to cross the border outside of ports of entry, the Border Patrol evidently doesn't mind if you stand on the concrete panel around the mile marker to take pictures)

Taken just to the left of the mile marker

I have no idea why Oñate Park is called a park.  It's actually pretty depressing looking.  However, it's another good location to gain perspective on what the border looks like:

This is a security camera that cost $400,000.  These sit all along the border area.

This sign is very significant: many people die each year trying to swim across the dam.  The water looks calm, but it can be as deep as 12 feet and the current can run as fast as 35 mph.

Looking through the fence at the dam.  The area of land that lies in the center of the photo is still U.S. territory, because on the other side of it is the Rio Grande.  Therefore, the actual boundary of the countries is in the middle of the river (which you can't see here).  Past the river, the land you do see (like the little hill) is Juárez.