On the Border: From El Paso to Atlanta, Part 1

News

Part 1: Photographer Hyosub Shin and reporter Jeremy Redmon visited stretches of the border in west Texas and New Mexico, in order to reveal the complexities surrounding border security.

Sierra Blanca, Texas - Hudspeth County Sheriff deputies Victor Lopez looks over the border fence to Mexico constructed with typical agricultural barbed wire in Hudspeth County, Texas on Wednesday, September 25, 2013. Hudspeth Shares nearly 100 miles of border with Mexico. But only a mall fraction of it is lined with fencing. So the barriers have become a punch line about illegal immigrants. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Sierra Blanca, Texas - Hudspeth County Sheriff deputies Paul Woo (left) and Victor Lopez patrol at the border with Mexico in Hudspeth County, where a tall steel fence stops abruptly across from the Mexican town of Banderas, on Wednesday, September 25, 2013. Hudspeth Shares nearly 100 miles of border with Mexico. But only a mall fraction of it is lined with fencing. So the barriers have become a punch line about illegal immigrants. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Sierra Blanca, Texas - Picture shows a border fence to Mexico constructed with typical agricultural barbed wire (foreground) and tall steel fence (background) in Hudspeth County, Texas on Wednesday, September 25, 2013. Hudspeth Shares nearly 100 miles of border with Mexico. But only a mall fraction of it is lined with fencing. So the barriers have become a punch line about illegal immigrants. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Sierra Blanca, Texas - The sign indicates International Boundary at the border with Mexico in Hudspeth County on Wednesday, September 25, 2013. Hudspeth Shares nearly 100 miles of border with Mexico. But only a mall fraction of it is lined with fencing. So the barriers have become a punch line about illegal immigrants. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Sierra Blanca, Texas - Hudspeth County Sheriff deputy Paul Woo patrols equipped with an assault rifle as Border Patrol truck (background) passes at the border with Mexico in Hudspeth County on Wednesday, September 25, 2013. Hudspeth Shares nearly 100 miles of border with Mexico. But only a mall fraction of it is lined with fencing. So the barriers have become a punch line about illegal immigrants. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Sierra Blanca, Texas - Hudspeth County Sheriff captain Robert Wilson (right) talks to deputy Victor Lopez at the border with Mexico in Hudspeth County, where a tall steel fence stops abruptly across from the Mexican town of Banderas, on Wednesday, September 25, 2013. Hudspeth Shares nearly 100 miles of border with Mexico. But only a mall fraction of it is lined with fencing. So the barriers have become a punch line about illegal immigrants. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Sierra Blanca, Texas - Hudspeth County Sheriff deputies Victor Lopez (foreground) and Paul Woo (background) patrol at the border with Mexico in Hudspeth County, where a tall steel fence stops abruptly across from the Mexican town of Banderas, on Wednesday, September 25, 2013. Hudspeth Shares nearly 100 miles of border with Mexico. But only a mall fraction of it is lined with fencing. So the barriers have become a punch line about illegal immigrants. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Sierra Blanca, Texas - Picture shows a fraction of narcotics that Hudspeth Sheriff Department has seized from Mexican drug cartels at Hudspeth County Sheriff Department in Sierra Blanca, Texas on Wednesday, September 25, 2013. Hudspeth Shares nearly 100 miles of border with Mexico. But only a mall fraction of it is lined with fencing. So the barriers have become a punch line about illegal immigrants. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Sierra Blanca, Texas - Arvin West, Sheriff at Hudspeth County Sheriff, speaks to a AJC reporter about border security issue on Wednesday, September 25, 2013. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

El Paso, Texas - Automobiles make their way into the United States at U.S. Customs and Border Protection - The Paso Del Norte Bridge in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, September 26, 2013. Some illegal immigrants are gutsy enough to try and sneak through one of the four legal ports of entry in El Paso. Every week, authorities encounter between 80 and 100 immigration violations at these gateways, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Some people use phony documents. Others are imposters with stolen U.S. identification. Some are carrying illegal drugs. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

El Paso, Texas - People cross the international bridge from the Mexican city of Juarez at U.S. Customs and Border Protection - The Paso Del Norte Bridge in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, September 26, 2013. Some illegal immigrants are gutsy enough to try and sneak through one of the four legal ports of entry in El Paso. Every week, authorities encounter between 80 and 100 immigration violations at these gateways, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Some people use phony documents. Others are imposters with stolen U.S. identification. Some are carrying illegal drugs. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

El Paso, Texas - U.S. Border Patrol agents Abel Cordero (center left) and Mercado Kike (center right) check documents at U.S. Customs and Border Protection - The Paso Del Norte Bridge in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, September 26, 2013. Some illegal immigrants are gutsy enough to try and sneak through one of the four legal ports of entry in El Paso. Every week, authorities encounter between 80 and 100 immigration violations at these gateways, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Some people use phony documents. Others are imposters with stolen U.S. identification. Some are carrying illegal drugs. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

El Paso, Texas - People line up for processing by U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement at U.S. Customs and Border Protection - The Paso Del Norte Bridge in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, September 26, 2013. Some illegal immigrants are gutsy enough to try and sneak through one of the four legal ports of entry in El Paso. Every week, authorities encounter between 80 and 100 immigration violations at these gateways, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Some people use phony documents. Others are imposters with stolen U.S. identification. Some are carrying illegal drugs. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

El Paso, Texas - U.S. Border Patrol agent Mercado Kike (left) checks an identification of the woman at U.S. Customs and Border Protection - The Paso Del Norte Bridge in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, September 26, 2013. Some illegal immigrants are gutsy enough to try and sneak through one of the four legal ports of entry in El Paso. Every week, authorities encounter between 80 and 100 immigration violations at these gateways, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Some people use phony documents. Others are imposters with stolen U.S. identification. Some are carrying illegal drugs. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

El Paso, Texas - K-9 officer Jaime Chavez patrols with his partner at U.S. Customs and Border Protection - The Paso Del Norte Bridge in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, September 26, 2013. Some illegal immigrants are gutsy enough to try and sneak through one of the four legal ports of entry in El Paso. Every week, authorities encounter between 80 and 100 immigration violations at these gateways, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Some people use phony documents. Others are imposters with stolen U.S. identification. Some are carrying illegal drugs. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

El Paso, Texas - People cross the international boundary on the bridge from the Mexican city of Juarez at U.S. Customs and Border Protection - The Paso Del Norte Bridge in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, September 26, 2013. Some illegal immigrants are gutsy enough to try and sneak through one of the four legal ports of entry in El Paso. Every week, authorities encounter between 80 and 100 immigration violations at these gateways, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Some people use phony documents. Others are imposters with stolen U.S. identification. Some are carrying illegal drugs. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Sunland Park, New Mexico - A border patrol car patrols along the T-shaped fence, which meant to block automobiles, with the Mexican town of Anapra (left) in Sunland Park, New Mexico on Thursday, September 26, 2013. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Sunland Park, New Mexico - U.S. Border Patrol agents Vennesa Martinez (left) ad George Gomez look thru the T-shaped fence, which meant to block automobiles, to the Mexican town of Anapra in Sunland Park, New Mexico on Thursday, September 26, 2013. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Sunland Park, New Mexico - Boundary of the United States of America sign stood behind the T-shaped fence, which meant to block automobiles, with the Mexican town of Anapra in Sunland Park, New Mexico on Thursday, September 26, 2013. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Sunland Park, New Mexico - A border patrol agent looks over the town of Anapra, Mexico along a border fence near the border with Sunland Park, New Mexico on Thursday, September 26, 2013. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

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Sierra Blanca, Texas - Hudspeth County Sheriff deputies Victor Lopez looks over the border fence to Mexico constructed with typical agricultural barbed wire in Hudspeth County, Texas on Wednesday, September 25, 2013. Hudspeth Shares nearly 100 miles of border with Mexico. But only a mall fraction of it is lined with fencing. So the barriers have become a punch line about illegal immigrants. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

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