A couple of border "musicos" survey the fence near Brownsville, Tx

 From Hispanically Speaking News

In Hope Park, Texas, (near Brownsville)  as the final piece of a border fence goes up, many look at it with disgust, and it’s not just immigrant advocates either. The fence at the U.S.-Mexico border was created to keep illegal immigrants out, but now even those that were initially in favor of the fence say it’s been a waste of money, and has ruined what was once a beautiful landscape.

Hope Park was originally created to commemorate a friendship between the United States and Mexico, but as the fence goes up, the friendliness seems to be dwindling. Texas land owners whose property is along the border were approached by federal contractors and asked to hand over parts of their land so the fence could be built. People like Eloisa Tamez, whose family has owned the land since 1767, say the federal government has ignored her refusal to give up the land, and are now suing her to attain it. Her court proceedings with the Department of Homeland Security began in 2008 and continue through today.

Those against the fence from the start say the unity that Hope Park was intended to inspire among Mexico and the U.S. is now lost by this fence, and immigrant-turned-legal-U.S. citizen Justo Ahumada, 84, says he is saddened by the loss of opportunity for other immigrants just trying to make money to support their families by crossing and working on this side of the border saying, “What a shame for the people coming to look for work these days.”