A central promise of Donald Trump's presidential campaign was a 55-foot-tall,2,000-mile-long wall that he pledged to build along the US-Mexico border. Now, eight months into his presidency, the Trump administration is trying to figure out how to pay for it.
In early September, the US Customs and Border Protection announced the four construction companies that will build 30-foot tall concrete prototypes of the wall. A few days earlier, Trump insisted that Mexico will foot the barrier's estimated $21.6 billion bill "one way or the other," despite the country's vow that it will never pay for it.
On Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the US will further secure the border by eliminating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows nearly 800,000 young immigrants who came to the US as children to stay and work in the country. The Trump administration is calling on Congress for a replacement of DACA, which will be phased out starting March 2018.
But the goal of establishing a firm physical boundary to separate the US from Mexico is nothing new. In the country that has the world's largest immigrant population, American presidential administrations have tried tightening security along the border for around a century.
Though the divide was formally established in 1824, the US didn't launch its official Border Patrol until 1924. Inspection and holding stations were created after that, followed by the construction of miles of fences with barbed wire and steel barriers over the next few decades.
Take a look back at the history of the US-Mexico border below.
The US established an official border patrol in 1924 with the goal of securing the US-Mexico border. In the photo below, American guards are patting down Mexicans who wish to enter the US.
The Mexicali border station (pictured below in 1929) was surrounded by a tall fence. Cars lined up to cross into California.
Much like today, people coming from Mexico were required to open their bags and suitcases at the border. In this 1937 photo, an agent inspects the possessions of shoppers going from Juarez, Mexico to El Paso, Texas.
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