the heavens were no barrier to american
idealism
but on earth how best to protect what it
means to be american
is an impregnable barrier a good option
well i think it says you can tear down
the statue of liberty
i think it says it's a closed shot
a nation of settlers that for some is
turning on outsiders
as america votes immigration is high on
the ballot
we talk to those who see donald trump's
border wall as a betrayal
of american ideals i just see this on a
daily basis
and it sometimes just hits you
and those for whom there's no price too
high to pay to protect
all they hold dear you prepared to use
that oh yeah
if it comes down to it i'm coming home
the biggest beneficiary maybe happens to
be
arizona that wall how good is the wall
it is the iconic idea of trump's america
and this cowboys and big skies
part of the iconography of america
all right all right guys okay bill
mcdonald's ranch in arizona
is just a few miles from the border with
mexico
illegal immigration and drug trafficking
are live issues here
yet for him a republican billion spent
on a border wall
is a waste of money people think well
you build a wall you've solved the
problem
they've already got saws that cut
through that wall you can do it with
technology and do it just as well
it's political he made a promise he was
determined to keep it he thought if he
kept it he'd get reelected
it's the only reason he does anything
i'm not crazy about everybody that
crosses the border but i'm not crazy
about everybody that already lives here
either i mean there are good people and
they're bad people
in all stripes you can't characterize
people by where they come from
it takes a few hours to sort the calves
for sale
headed for oklahoma
they'll never see their mothers again
but that's business
activists say over 500 children remain
separated from their families building a
big wall was only part of the plan
critics in congress and human rights
groups claimed migrants were being
treated like cattle
under donald trump's zero-tolerance
child separation policy
to deter illegal migration eventually
his administration
was forced to change course
but secure borders are a necessity
we saw drug cartel spotters across the
wall in mexico
checking if the coast is clear to send
over human mules
these ones went that way so yesterday i
followed these guys
tim foley often spots them too videoing
the mules camouflaged with their
backpacks of drugs
from his remote base in southern arizona
he leads a group of armed volunteers
that patrols the border is the wall
making america great again
it's making it safer this is my in town
represents a strain of american
patriotism donald trump
tapped into giving up everything he knew
in san francisco
to come to arizona why are you involved
what what is it about the situation that
gets you angry
i didn't trust
the government or the media to tell the
actual truth of what was going on
some apple sauce but what is the truth
there's another group of volunteers on
the border
they're from a charity that leaves water
and food supplies for people crossing
over from mexico
asylum seekers fleeing persecution and
migrant families with children
reaching for a better life it must be
difficult they also help families find
relatives
who've gone missing crossing the border
so what are the kinds of things that
you've come across
on the trails many times we find
remains skeletal remains of
border crossers you also see
clothes and abandoned shoes you know
evidence of a
like a person's life so you see wedding
rings
you see love letters a lot of rosaries
a lot of bibles you also see cosmetic
products
thrown in the desert deodorants
lipsticks and you wonder why
why bring those artifacts along and it's
many times migrants want to
meet their loved ones with you know
smelling good and
looking presentable after a long journey
in this one area the remains of 181
people
have been found this year you see young
young people old people you see
everybody
and you see the families the families
just
reach out to us desperately looking for
their loved one it's an
unimaginable pain and anguish
often jia and tim's worlds collide and
there's one thing
they both agree on what's the tattoo
one of the horsemen of the apocalypse
it's what i see is coming it's uh
it's my view of the border there's death
all around
donald trump's wall speaks to us all we
project on the barrier our own values
this election sees millions of americans
casting their votes
in line with who they believe they
really are
clive murray bbc news in southern
arizona