I know Mr. Johnson and his father. I bought water from him in the 80’s for several drilling projects on claims just west of his farmed area.
I know about the Mexicans crossing the border on every evening pulling up my claim posts for walking sticks. Those bastards were making my claims invalid doing that. I saw them while mapping the geology of those claims. They were always ALL male groups with backpacks. I thought they were drug mules. They were always hiking to a gap in the mountains to the north which would lead out to Highway 9 that ran between Columbus and Hachita. I figured someone would pick them and their loads on that highway.
One day an ICE agent was hassling me checking my ID, plates, etc. I told him he should be chasing the 14 hikers that were headed for the gap. He immediately lost interest in me and headed back to that highway in a hurry.
It is great to hear first hand “ground truth” reports like yours from along the border.
Those thirty foot bollards are going to stop the average Jose Six-Pack from coming across the border for petty theft - but the layers of new technology that are also deploying, are going to dramatically challenge even well funded/organized/equipped cartel operations.
Just as we we really just got into full scale deployment of new barrier this year (under 100 miles on January first, but likely over 360 miles on tomorrow’s report, 450 by year’s end), several major Technology Programs entered full scale deployment at the same time. They are already flooding to border hot spots, covering more miles, quicker than the new barrier.
I don’t know if the schedule has slipped (which has been common), but the entirety of the Arizona border with Mexico (~370 miles) was to covered by persistent surveillance from Integrated Fixed Towers (IFT) Program, by the end of this year (in addition to to 212 miles of new Trump-style Super Wall System that Arizona is getting).
Major purchases of Mobile Surveillance Systems (MSS) have already begun delivery/deployment, as has Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) and other other types of drones - up to the high altitude, long duration Predator drones, flown by both CBP and the US Military in support of CBP. Unmanned Ground Systems (UGS) are proliferating in type and number, and on, and on.
The line of the border barrier itself is being instrumented and monitored like a tripwire with Linear Detection System (LDS) and fixed surveillance assets, but many of these Programs enable a deep band of detection and tracking - from way into Mexico for early warning, and way into the USA for pursuit.
Not everything goes in on the same day, but layer upon layer of capability follow each other, over the weeks and months after the bollards are erected. Roads are finished, alarm systems are activated, concertina is strung, and additional capabilities, like lights, cameras, additional alarms and sensors; are deployed according to local need.
You will really see a change. This “Wall System was not thrown together as a haphazard general upgrade - if has been engineered as a complementary package, to achieve “Full Operational Control” where it goes in.
According to the President, so far, it has been been performing better than projected.