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NOGALES, Arizona native of Arizona Laiken Jordahl recently took us to her favorite spot.
We are currently driving up to the border wall outside Nogales.
What You Should Know About 220 miles of border wall have been erected around Arizona in the past two years Some areas have been permanently damaged or destroyed due to the construction of the border wall Most border wall construction contracts were canceled by President Biden Although construction on the wall has generally stopped in Arizona, there are still half-built trenches, old pile-up vehicle barriers, and roads that lead nowhere
Jordahl comes to the area so often that he could drive the roads with his eyes closed. That’s why after college he joined the National Park Service and, more recently, the Center for Biological Diversity.
My goal was to be a steward of the land, to protect wildlife and nature, and to protect these beautiful places for future generations, he said.
Jordahl explained how it was the first time in months that the area had been quiet, without the buzz of construction crews, cranes or dynamite.
All you can hear are the beautiful birds singing and the wind blowing through the poplars.
In the past two years, 220 miles of border wall have been erected around Arizona, and in order to do this, construction crews have been brought to remote areas like Guadalupe Canyon.
“We have seen thousands of pounds of dynamite explode in wilderness areas,” Jordahl said. “We have seen mountain ranges being leveled to build the border wall.”
In the mountains of Patagonia, the Wall’s contracts were canceled weeks before the wall sank into the ground, but by then the crews had already built a road in an area where animals move in. Endangered.
“This path, this horrible scar, is the size of a four-lane highway,” Jordahl said. “You can land a plane on that huge scar they cut across the mountains of Patagonia.”
Remote areas like El Camino del Diablo have now become more established roads for traffic, according to Jordahl.
“It’s a pretty deep irony… But by digging roads in these wilderness areas, it actually opened up new routes for smugglers,” he said.
Customs and border protection, however, deny that the new border wall has been very effective, with illegal crossings falling to 87%.
Now that most of the border wall construction contracts have been canceled, crews are usually gone, but there are still half-cement-built trenches, old pile-up vehicle barriers, and roads that lead nowhere.
We are now urging the administration to start restoring all of that damage, to undo the damage that we can fix, Jordahl said.
Until then, Jordhahl continues to be a steward of the land.
“All of life is interconnected and interdependent,” he said. “I think we all have an obligation to stand up for those who are more vulnerable than us.”
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