The Two Nogaleses

The United States/Mexico border wall in Nogales

My trip to Arizona started Tuesday at 3:30 AM, but didn't really get going until Wednesday.  Tuesday was the travel day which meant getting up very early, spending a lot of time in a car, and then much, much more time in an airplane, being slammed with a three-hour time change, and then finally a few hours of rest and recovery.  I didn't have as bad a time as some in our group (one member had his flight delayed by 8 hours); in fact, I had pretty great luck as I was originally supposed to have 3 connecting flights (Raleigh to Miami to Dallas Fort Worth to Tucson), but due to an issue with one of my planes I was rerouted to go from Raleigh directly to Dallas and then Tucson.  With one of my connections eliminated and my departure time essentially the same, I ended up in Tucson four hours ahead of schedule, which was great.  Except with no transportation, and none of the rest of my group there quite so early, it didn't leave me much to do.  So I caught up on some sleep and then shared dinner with the rest of the group later in the evening.

The purpose of this trip is twofold: 1) for our group of extension agents to see some of the work that Arizona Cooperative Extension has done in creating educational programs for Latino audiences so that we can better serve this growing population in North Carolina, and 2) to better understand issues that Latinos face before, during, and after migrating to the United States.  Immigration is a hot-button political issue of course, and I'll try to avoid the overt politics of it as much as possible, but I do want to share what I am seeing and doing here.  Of course, I'm also interested in the plant life here in this very different part of the country, so I'll try to share some of the interesting  things I see growing here as well.

The view of Nogales, Mexico from Nogales, Arizona

Today we went to the Santa Cruz County Cooperative Extension office in Nogales, Arizona.  Nogales is a city directly on the border of Arizona and Mexico, and the border wall that separates the countries is visible from the Santa Cruz office.  On one side of the wall is Nogales, Arizona, population 20,000 (94% Hispanic) and on the other side is Nogales, Mexico, with a population close to a quarter of a million people.  Because of the racial makeup of the County (Santa Cruz as a whole is 80% Hispanic), Santa Cruz County Extension programs are targeted heavily towards the Hispanic audience.  We visited at the Nogales Family Resource Center, an early childhood education center funded by First Things First, a program similar to Smart Start, and directed by Cooperative Extension.  We met with several mothers who have young children in the program and from them we heard many stories about their  experiences at the Center and the differences in life and education between the United States and Mexico.

Our group, along with Dean from Santa Fe Ranch and Darcy from Santa Cruz County Cooperative Extension 

A selection of low desert plants in the Desert Garden

After that we went to the Santa Fe Ranch just outside of Nogales.  Santa Fe Ranch is an operating cattle ranch that also serves as a non-profit educationally facility.  There we had a fantastic carne asada lunch, which was a welcome treat as the facility where our group is staying serves only vegetarian food.  After lunch, we were given a tour of the facility by Dean Fish, a former Extension Livestock and 4-H agent who now works on the ranch.  Dean showed us their Desert Garden, a cooperative project with the local Soil
and Water Conservation District.  The garden is aimed at showing residents appropriate plants to use in various types of landscapes.  Arizona is of course very hot and dry, with sandy soil, so it is very difficult to grow what we in North Carolina would think of as "traditional" landscape plants,  Instead the Desert Garden highlighted various types of cactus, ornamental grass, and agaves, among others.

A horse on the ranch amidst velvet mesquite trees

Santa Fe Ranch has a bird sanctuary, a butterfly and hummingbird garden, a farm animal exhibit and more.  They host youth groups in an attempt to connect children to various aspects of agriculture.  Dean also told us of a project he does with eighth grade students each year where they grow, market, and sell pumpkins in order to provide a model of a farm business.  One of the interesting things I learned at the ranch was about the Velvet mesquite (Prosposi velutina) trees.  These trees are everywhere in Arizona, and at this time of the year they really look like they are dead from afar.  Many trees, like cottonwoods and desert willow, are just beginning to leaf out, and the ragged mesquite trees stand out in contrast.  It turns out that they are not dead however, but because they grow in the harshest desert soils, in areas that are unirrigated, it takes them longer to leaf out each year then other trees in the area.  This despite the fact that these trees have a massive root system which can reach down as far as fifty feet into the soil to collect water.

View of the U.S.-Mexico border from the Nogales Burger King 

Our day ended with a trek back into Nogales.  We parked in a Burger King parking lot less than a mile from the Extension office we started our day at.  From there we had a great view of the border wall on the hills of Nogales, and just a two block walk to a section of the wall.  The wall is made from 20 foot high steel beams, and is really more of a fence then a wall, per se, as there is about 6 inches between each beam. You can see through it, stick your arm through it, or pass a note or toss a baseball to someone on the other side if you wanted. From our vantage point we could see buses waiting in line for the border crossing checkpoint
through the wall, and actually had a short chat with one bus driver and his passenger.  Had the wall not been there, nothing else would have clearly delineated Nogales, Arizona from Nogales, Mexico, as the two neighboring cities share similar architecture and design.

Border checkpoint between Nogales and Tucson

On the way home we passed by the distribution area where a large majority of the produce shipped from Mexico is first brought into the United States.  We were told that at some points of the year, roughly 90% of the produce sold in United States grocery stores has passed through these distribution centers.  Shortly after passing the distribution area, we were stopped at a border patrol checkpoint.  This was about 20 miles north of the wall we had just seen and touched.  I say this to point out that while there is a physical and geographical border at a fixed location between Arizona and Mexico, the concept of the border extends far beyond that fixed line and the distinction between one country and the next  is not as distinct as many would imagine it to be.  The landscape, culture, and language blends in so much that it doesn't quite seem obvious that you are in the United States rather than Mexico. Highway 19 has kilometer markers rather than mile markers, for example, and while the highway signs are in English, many of the businesses and landmarks have Spanish names. Until you see the border patrol checkpoint, or the border patrol vehicles that have someone pulled over, at which point it becomes clear that this is the United States.  At the checkpoint, the border patrol agent asked if we were all American citizens, we responded that we were, and we were sent on our way in less than 15 seconds. He even joked that he was glad that we were, because with 12 of us in the van it would be a lot of documents for him to check if someone had said no.  On Monday we will travel into Nogales, Mexico and spend a day there touring a Mexican industrial park, conversing with local families, and visiting a community center.  Because we'll actually be crossing the border there, our experience with border patrol upon returning will likely be a bit more rigorous.