Trump’s dumb border wall

特朗普愚蠢的边境墙

The US has one of the most advanced “smart” surveillance apparatuses in the world. So why does this administration insist on building environmentally destructive, physical walls? 美国拥有世界上最先进的“智能”监控系统之一。那么，为什么本届政府仍坚持修建破坏环境的实体墙呢？

About 22 miles south of the former mining town of Patagonia, Arizona, down a winding, unpaved mountain road that passes cows grazing on open range, stands a cottonwood tree believed to be at least 200 years old. The “grandmother” tree, as some locals call it, is imperiled and already showing signs of stress, almost as if it knows its fate. The leaves are yellowing prematurely, falling to the ground at the height of summer. On July 27th, a construction crew felled three neighboring trees to build an extension of President Donald Trump’s wall along the US-Mexico border. 在亚利桑那州前矿业小镇帕塔哥尼亚以南约22英里处，沿着一条蜿蜒的未铺砌山路，经过在开阔牧场上吃草的牛群，矗立着一棵据信至少有200年树龄的棉白杨。这棵被当地人称为“祖母树”的古树正处于危险之中，并已显露出压力迹象，仿佛它预知了自己的命运。在盛夏时节，它的叶子过早变黄并纷纷落地。7月27日，施工队砍伐了三棵相邻的树木，以修建唐纳德·特朗普总统美墨边境墙的延伸部分。

An activist climbed up the last tree standing two days later and ever since, someone has sat on a platform hoisted onto the tree’s branches. They say they’ll sit there as long as it takes, because as long as someone is in the tree, it can’t be cut down. 两天后，一名活动人士爬上了最后一棵幸存的树，从那时起，就一直有人坐在树枝上的平台上。他们表示会一直守在那里，因为只要有人在树上，树就不会被砍伐。

The protest is about more than one cottonwood. “This tree represents a literal line in the sand against border militarization in general,” said Russ McSpadden, the Southwest conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity. 这场抗议的意义远不止保护一棵棉白杨。“这棵树代表了反对边境军事化的一条实实在在的底线，”生物多样性中心西南地区保护倡导者拉斯·麦克斯帕登（Russ McSpadden）说道。

In recent weeks, the Department of Homeland Security has revived its effort to wall off the border, dispatching construction crews to remote parts of Texas, Arizona, and the Tohono O’odham Nation’s reservation lands to finish Trump’s wall — and has waived environmental laws to get it built, causing backlash from the tiny desert town of Ajo to the even tinier ghost town of Terlingua. 最近几周，国土安全部重启了边境筑墙计划，派遣施工队前往德克萨斯州、亚利桑那州和托霍诺奥哈姆民族（Tohono O’odham Nation）保留地的偏远地区，以完成特朗普的边境墙建设。为此，该部门豁免了相关环境法规，引发了从沙漠小镇阿霍（Ajo）到更小的鬼镇特林瓜（Terlingua）的强烈抵制。

This latest construction push is happening despite record-low encounters along the southwestern border. In fact, encounters at the southwest border dropped almost immediately after Trump took office — not because of any new infrastructure, but because he effectively shut down asylum. Despite the steep decline in migrant crossings, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed along party lines in 2025, gave Trump an additional $46.5 billion to finish building the wall. 尽管西南边境的非法越境记录处于历史最低水平，但这一最新的施工行动仍在进行。事实上，在特朗普上任后，西南边境的越境记录几乎立即下降——这并非因为任何新的基础设施，而是因为他有效地关闭了庇护申请通道。尽管移民越境人数大幅下降，但2025年通过的《一个美丽大工程法案》（One Big Beautiful Bill Act）仍为特朗普额外提供了465亿美元用于完成边境墙的建设。

The border wall is more than just a wall; it’s a vast surveillance network of interconnected drones, towers, and cameras. Even in areas where there’s no visible barrier separating the United States and Mexico, CBP relies on this “virtual wall” to track migrants. This vast surveillance apparatus is far more effective than a wall, and it’s already largely in place. 边境墙不仅仅是一堵墙，它是一个由无人机、塔台和摄像头相互连接的庞大监控网络。即使在美墨之间没有可见屏障的地区，美国海关及边境保卫局（CBP）也依靠这种“虚拟墙”来追踪移民。这种庞大的监控系统比实体墙有效得多，而且目前已基本部署到位。

In the ghost town of Lochiel, Arizona, activists from surrounding communities have set up an encampment on private property near the cottonwood tree to support the protest. They take turns cooking meals and use a pulley system to transport food and water to the person sitting in the tree. They know they’re being watched. Trucks from Vision Quest Solutions, a private security firm that advertises itself as veteran- and Native American-owned, roll up and down the fresh dirt road just south of the tree. The activists track the various contractors that are building the road: Fisher Sand & Gravel, BJ Drilling, Stinger Bridge & Iron, and others. 在亚利桑那州的鬼镇洛希尔（Lochiel），来自周边社区的活动人士在棉白杨树附近的私人土地上建立了营地，以支持抗议活动。他们轮流做饭，并利用滑轮系统将食物和水运送给坐在树上的人。他们知道自己正受到监视。一家自称由退伍军人和美洲原住民拥有的私人安保公司“Vision Quest Solutions”的卡车，在树南侧新开辟的土路上来回行驶。活动人士密切关注着负责修路的各家承包商：Fisher Sand & Gravel、BJ Drilling、Stinger Bridge & Iron 等。

Henry, a community organizer from Tucson who is participating in the encampment, said that a DHS helicopter flew “dangerously close” to the tree on August 10th. 来自图森市、正在参与营地活动的社区组织者亨利（Henry）表示，8月10日，一架国土安全部的直升机曾“危险地靠近”这棵树。

“This movement was started and held down for a long time by local environmentalists who care really deeply about these ancient cottonwood trees,” said Henry, who asked to be referred to by a pseudonym. He is among a newer group of activists “who see it as an opportunity to physically stop border wall construction.” “这场运动是由那些深切关爱这些古老棉白杨的当地环保人士发起并长期坚持下来的，”要求使用化名的亨利说。他属于新加入的一批活动人士，“他们将此视为从物理上阻止边境墙建设的机会。”

The planned construction projects differ by region. In Arizona’s San Rafael Valley, where an older fence already divides Mexico and the United States, DHS is building a wall featuring 30-foot-tall steel bollards. The plan is to have a “double wall” throughout the Arizona-Mexico border — one that runs through the Tohono O’odham reservation, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, and the San Rafael Valley. To achieve this, DHS contractors are tearing down the old fence, replacing it with the new bollards, and building an entirely new wall a few dozen feet away. The cottonwood tree sits directly in the path of the second wall. 计划中的建设项目因地区而异。在亚利桑那州的圣拉斐尔谷（San Rafael Valley），那里已经有一道旧围栏将墨西哥和美国隔开，国土安全部正在修建一堵由30英尺高的钢柱组成的墙。计划是在整个亚利桑那州与墨西哥的边境线上修建“双重墙”——穿过托霍诺奥哈姆保留地、管风琴仙人掌国家纪念区（Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument）和圣拉斐尔谷。为了实现这一目标，国土安全部的承包商正在拆除旧围栏，换上新的钢柱，并在几十英尺外修建一堵全新的墙。而那棵棉白杨正好位于第二道墙的路径上。

“They’re approaching the tree from both sides with their work crews,” Henry said. “I don’t really know what their plan is once they don’t have anything else to do.” “他们的施工队正从两侧向这棵树逼近，”亨利说。“我真的不知道当他们无事可做时，他们的计划是什么。”

In Big Bend National Park, Customs and Border Protection is building what it calls a “Technology & Patrol Road,” or a “smart wall” system of sensors, cameras, and surveillance towers accessible via a new road — even though there’s an existing road that cuts through the park. 在大弯曲国家公园（Big Bend National Park），海关及边境保卫局正在修建所谓的“技术与巡逻道路”，即一套由传感器、摄像头和监控塔组成的“智能墙”系统，可以通过一条新路进入——尽管公园内已经有一条现成的道路。

Responding to mass outcry about recent construction in Big Bend, CBP chief Rodney Scott said that DHS isn’t building a wall. “CBP is building one new access road, improving existing roads, installing detection technology, and placing vehicle barriers in limited, strategic locations,” Scott said in an emailed statement. “What people are seeing right now is survey and design work—NOT construction of a wall through the park.” 针对近期在大弯曲国家公园施工引发的强烈抗议，CBP局长罗德尼·斯科特（Rodney Scott）表示，国土安全部并没有在建墙。“CBP正在修建一条新的通道，改善现有道路，安装探测技术，并在有限的战略位置设置车辆障碍，”斯科特在一份电子邮件声明中说。“人们现在看到的是勘测和设计工作，而不是在公园里修建围墙。”