Border security

Fence rises along border town, but skeptical residents say manpower keeps them safe

Residents of this dusty hamlet are skeptical that an ongoing effort to replace 1.4 miles of chain link fencing with an imposing steel curtain -- much less the the ambitious border wall Donald Trump has vowed to build -- will stem the tide of illegal immigrants they find under their trailers, in their backyards or wandering through town.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is replacing the stretch of 20-year-old fencing with an 18-foot-high steel wall that extends another 6 feet underground into a bed of concrete. The project also includes elevating the roadbed that runs alongside the wall, to improve the effectiveness of vehicle-borne Border Patrol agents.