Media Credit: Veronica Hansen Two eagles representing the U.S. and Mexico demarcate the border between the countries.

Media Credit: Veronica Hansen Jay J. Johnson-Castro points to where the proposed border fence dividing the U.S. and Mexico would be built along the Rio Grande.

Media Credit: Veronica Hansen Vendors attempt to sell fruit to passing cars on the road leading to the U.S.-Mexico border from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico.

Where Devils River flows into the Rio Grande, statues symbolizing cooperation and friendship between the United States and Mexico sit perched atop the Amistad Dam. For almost four decades, statues of a bald eagle and a golden eagle have represented the relationship between the two countries, while boaters and swimmers below take advantage of the area's natural boundary.

The federally proposed 700 miles of fencing along the Texas and Mexico border would essentially divorce the Lone Star State from its southern neighbor if the entire 2,000 border between them is fenced off for the sake of homeland security.

For nine years in the 1960s, three U.S. presidents and two Mexican presidents met to plan, erect and dedicate the dam, designated as a free crossing point

for cars and pedestrians traveling between the U.S. and Mexico. The dam is located 12 miles upstream from Del Rio, Texas, and Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila.

With Texans and Mexicans swimming, boating, buying and living so closely together and joint relationships in place between Del Rio and Acuna, it's the border residents who may suffer most.

"Del Rio is joined at the hip with Acuna," says Jay Johnson-Castro, a Del Rio hotelier and activist. "We've got two legs here and the fence will cut one off. We don't stand on one leg, we stand on two."

Johnson-Castro will launch a 16-day border wall protest, "Hands Across el Rio," starting in El Paso/Juarez and ending 830 miles to the southeast, where Boca Chica and Bagdad meet the Gulf of Mexico. Protesters in kayaks, canoes and inner tubes will paddle down the Rio Grande River to each international bridge along the way to meet others who oppose the fence. Mexican and U.S. citizens will form a human chain across each bridge to symbolize border solidarity and friendship.

"There's a marriage of the two worlds at the border," Johnson-Castro said. "It's not Mexico, it's not the U.S. It's Mexico in the U.S. and the U.S. in Mexico."

President Bush signed the Secure Fence Act in October 2006, approving the construction of 700 miles of fencing along the Texas and Mexico border. The act calls for a wall to be built 5 miles northwest of the Del Rio port of entry into Mexico to 5 miles southeast of the Eagle Pass port of entry into Mexico.

"At this time, no final decisions have been made and we're in the process of deciding where exactly to build the fence," said Laura Keehner, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman. "At no point will we move forward without working with landowners."

The department has committed to constructing 150 miles of fencing in California, New Mexico and Arizona by this September. By the end of 2008, 380 total miles of fencing will be erected, including the fencing set to go up in Texas, Keehner said. If construction of the wall meets its deadline, border issues and illegal immigration will be at the forefront of the presidential campaign and debate season.

Del Rio and Acuna residents speak of the border fence and the effect it will have on both sides with disgust.

"All of the border is too far from D.C. and Mexico City, and people there don't know anything about what's going at the border," said Del Rio resident Gabriel Ramos Rivera. "There's no network between the four elected officials in Mexico border towns and the U.S. border states."

Rivera owns Ma Crosby's, a historical restaurant in Acuna. He is one example of a border citizen who owns property in Mexico and travels between the two countries several times a day. In fact, he lived in the U.S. while serving as a Mexican congressman. He said about 90 percent of his business comes from tourists.

"The crossover business is huge, and security preventing Mexicans from going to the U.S. is actually preventing people from coming to Mexico," he said. "A wall will only make this worse."

Martin Humphreys, who owns the Del Rio Loan Co., knows his stance on the fence issue contrasts with that of most Del Rio residents, including his wife.

"I think we have a great relationship with Acuna," Humphreys said. "I'm one of the very, very few Del Rio residents in support of a fence because I'm against illegals and don't believe they're taking jobs Americans don't want to do."

Humphreys has owned his company for 20 years. He said 95 percent of his clientele are Hispanic, 10 percent of whom do not speak English.

"A portion of my business comes from people in Acuna, and there would be an effect if people from Acuna stopped coming here to do business," Humphreys said.

The "Hands Across el Rio" protest is endorsed by National League of United Latin American Citizens and marks Johnson-Castro's second border wall protest. In 2006, he walked 176 miles from Laredo to Brownsville in protest against the fence.

"We're going to show off our environment with the launching of kayaks and canoes, and come to the bridges and show people from both sides of the river holding hands," Johnson-Castro said. "If you're holding hands, you're obviously getting along."

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