Members of at least three Native American communities, two of them federally recognized, live in areas affected by wall construction. These communities include the Lipan Apache of south Texas, the Kickapoo Tribe in the Eagle Pass area and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in the El Paso area of west Texas. These communities have all expressed grave concern about the impact that the wall will have on their traditional lands, religion and culture.
If the border wall is built on the currently planned path, some individual private property owners would see their land bisected by the wall while others would find all of their land on the southern or Mexican side of the border wall. The facts surrounding each of these individual property owners’ encounters with the planned border wall help to tell the story of the wall’s impact.
Entire communities and governments have expressed concern about the impact of the wall. Several municipalities along the border and their leaders have adopted formal statements against the wall.
Significant concern has also been expressed regarding the symbolic and physical impact of the wall on relations between the United States and Mexico and on communities on both sides of the border that have traditionally interacted across the border. The government of Mexico has taken formal positions opposing the wall and has published studies on its impact.
