In the late 1980s, Bill Pape was drawn here by the isolated beauty of the mountains and an intimacy that reminded him of a desert version of a small Midwestern town. Pape, a 62-year-old retired aircraft mechanic, would ride his mountain bike along the border with Mexico.
Border Patrol agents patroling the United States-Mexico Border wall during Opening the Door Of Hope/Abriendo La Puerta De La Esparana, at Friendship Park in San Ysidro, Calif., on Nov. 19, 2016. Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security Committee estimated that the total cost of the construction of the border wall could "soar" to nearly $70 billion, according to a report prepared by minority side of the committee, which is led by Sen. Claire McCaskill , D-Missouri.