Photos: Costly stretch of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border
Border Patrol spokesman Jerome C. Conlin gazes across the base of Otay Mountain at a recently completed stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border fence. The 3.6-mile barrier through rugged terrain east of San Ysidro cost about $57 million to construct. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
Since the barrier’s completion in October, authorities say, illegal activity has declined considerably, and there have been few signs of people trying to cut or breach the fence. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
People seeking to enter the country illegally have hiked the scrub-covered, tarantula-infested Otay peak for years, trying to get to roads leading to San Diego. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
The Otay Mountain project is one segment in the massive expansion of border infrastructure approved by Congress during George W. Bush’s presidency. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
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Border Patrol spokesman Jerome C. Conlin, walking along the fence, says, “We’re no longer conceding this area to smugglers.” But critics ask why people determined to scale a rugged, 3,500-foot peak would be deterred by a 18-foot-high fence. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
