Sonora - The Border

The Border

Sonora's border with the U.S. is 588 kilometres (365 mi) long, and runs through desert and mountains, from the western Chihuahuan Desert, through an area of grasslands and oak mountain areas to the Sonoran Desert west of Nogales. The area gets drier from here west and the last third of the border is generally uninhabited. There are six official border crossings. From east to west these at Agua Prieta, Naco, Nogales, Sasabe, Sonoyta and San Luis Río Colorado. In populated areas, much of the border is marked by corregated metal walls, but most of the rest is marked by barbed wire fence and border monuments.

Like others in the world, the border is a culture onto itself, not 100% belonging to either country culturally. Interaction between the peoples on both sides is a part of both the culture and the economy. In the 1980s, an international volleyball game was regularly held near Naco, with the chain link border fence serving as the net. Much of Arizona and Sonora share a cuisine based on the wheat, cheese and beef that was introduced to the region by the Spaniards, with wheat tortillas being especially large on both sides of the border. This diet is reinforced by the vaquero/cowboy tradition which continues in both states. The six border crossings are essential to the existence and extent of the communities that surround them, as most of them function as ports for the passage of goods between the two countries. People regularly shop and work on the other side, taking advantage of opportunities there. The economic opportunities of the border are not equal on both sides. Most of the population along this border lives on the Sonoran side, many of which have moved here for the opportunities created by the maquiladoras and other businesses. These are lacking on the Arizona side.

The border has separated the region’s indigenous populations, such as the Tohono O’odham the Yaquis and the Pimas. While members of the Tohono O’odham have special border crossing privileges, these have become endangered as Mexican farmer encroach on tribal lands in Sonora, which a vulnerable to drug smugglers. Yaquis in Arizona travel south to the Yaqui River area for festival, especially Holy Week, and Yaquis travel north to Arizona for cultural reasons as well. When Father Kino arrived in this area, he named much of it the Pimería Alta, as Pima territory extends from the highlands of eastern Sonora up towards Tucson.

Authorities on each side work to keep out from the other that which is undesirable. For the U.S., this mostly involves drugs and illegal immigrants. For Mexico, this mostly involves struggling against the importation of untaxed goods, especially automobiles. Smuggling people and drugs into the U.S. is big business in Mexico, but while it affects everyone living on the border, it is generally not seen, except for occasional newspaper headlines, occasional violent crime and religious articles geared to those in the trade. Illegal crossings taking place through tunnels, hidden cars and trucks or most commonly, simply passing through a gap in the fence, especially in the more remote areas. In 1990, a tunnel linking two warehouses in Agua Prieta and Douglas, AZ was discovered. It was sophisticated with hydraulic equipment and means to move large quantities of goods. At least three corridos have been written about this tunnel.