Border War

(1 0f 12) The portion of the wall that divides Mexico and the United States located west of San Luis del Rio Colorado, Mexico, is clear on of it's both sides. Throughout 2006 this wall and much of the American southwest has become a focal point on the fight against Illegal immigration. Local law enforcement angencies in the American southwest as well as federal agencies have been caught in the middle of the debate that pitted the needs of an economy against the letter of the law. Paitned in spanish on the Mexican side of the wall that divides the Arizona border and Mexico are the words "Jesus Christ is the master of San Luis del Rio Colorado,"" a border town that is consider by many as a jumping off point into America.

(2 of 12)Blanding Police Sgt. Cal Black opens up an SUV carrying 12 undocumented immigrants during a traffic stop of suspected undocumented workers traveling on highway 191 through Blanding, Utah. Blanding police say they can pull over dozens of cars a night carrying undocumented immigrants and workers to Interstate 70 and then points all over America. Black is the only spanish speaking officer on the force and spends much of his time in the evening questioning undocumented immigrants.

(3 of 12)BLANDING, UT.-- Although there is no room at the city's jail, Blanding Police officer Darren Shumway opens up an SUV carrying several undocumented immigrants during a traffic stop of suspected undocumented workers traveling on highway 191 through the city. Since in most cases Immigration and Customs Enforcement will not pick up those stopped by the officers, they question those stopped and collect cash bails for infractions they find. 4/19/06

(4 of 12) BLANDING, UT-- Undocument immigrant Raul Mendoza of Mexico is questioned by Blanding Police officer Corey Workman during a traffic stop. Most of those traveling through the city said they were traveling to Denver or points east for jobs that were waiting. With a lack of support from Immigration and Custom Enforcement the officers most often let the drivers and their passengers continue after collecting cash bails for violations such as lack of seat belts and driving without insurance or a license. 4/19/06

(5 of 12) Soldiers with the Utah National Guard listen to their orders and mission discription at the Ramada Inn in Yuma, AZ. The soldiers were deployed to begin the building effort of a new wall along the Arizona and Mexican border.

(6 of 12) PFC. Thomas Carter of the Utah National Guard works with several other guardsmen in a trench while contructing a new wall between Mexico and America in the desert east of San Luis, Arizona. The soldiers dawned full fatigues in the 120 degree heat. Many of the soldiers, who also served in Iraq, volunteered for the mission.

(7 of 12)Specialist Wilmer Valladares, an immigrant from Honduras, at work in a trench at the new border wall with the Utah National Guard east of San Luis, Arizona on the Mexican border. Valladares, who is now an American citizen, intially immigrated to the United States illegally in 1996. Now he finds himself building the wall that may make it more difficult for his own people to cross into the states. He is aware that construction of the wall may lead to those trying to cross to become more desperate in their efforts and travel further out into the deadly desert.

(8 of 12)A Latino walks into the desert as he skirts the Mexican/American border east San Luis, Arizona, about one mile from where the Utah National Guard is constructing a wall. Scores go missing or are killed every year traveling through the desert in search of work in America.

(9 of 12)A Border Patrol helicopter scans the fields on the Mexican border west of San Luis, Arizona. Throughout the night the helicopters can be seen flying at low altitudes scanning the fields, canals, roadways and trees. Many immigrants try to cross in the night to increase their odds of not being discovered and to avoid the potentially deadly heat of the day.

(10 of 12)Border Patrol agents arrest a dozen undocument immigrants hiding in a garage north of the Mexican border in Gadsden, Arizona. After crossing into America near San Luis, the group was chased from a field, across a highway and into a small neighborhood before being found in the garage of a suspected "coyote."

(11 of 12) A water bottle and a broken shoe remain on a path leading into America in the desert east of San Luis del Rio Colorado, Mexico.

(12 of 12) Grave markers for those that cannot be indentified in a potter's field cemetery in Yuma, Arizona. Most of the unidentified were males. Many do not have death dates, but rather the dates their bodies were found. Every year scores of immigrants die in the desert or simply go missing while trying to enter America in search of work.
Photos by Jim Urquhart