"I feel like we live in an occupied zone now." -Eloisa Tamez (Photo by Eugenio del Bosque)
Read how Brownsville’s battle against the federal government’s border fence ended in defeat and disillusionment:
The rust-colored, steel-and-cement wall has become a surreal fixture on Brownsville’s skyline. It cleaves downtown Hope Park, built as a symbol of unity between the United States and Mexico. It stops and starts, without rhyme or reason, along the Rio Grande River’s levees, leaving miles of gaps. It highlights the city’s economic divide: It’s the first thing folks in the poorer barrios see when they look out their windows, while richer folks enjoy unaltered views of palm trees and manicured fairways when they tee off on private golf courses. It zigs and zags through residents’ backyards, through citrus orchards—an ugly red scar on a green, subtropical landscape.
– Texas Observer, Jan. 22, 2010, Melissa del Bosque
