Rachel St. John

We need to be really clear about marking this space.

And that leads a lot of government officials along the border to say, we need a fence.

So that he could sell American liquor.

without any duty on it from inside the bar.

This is Rachel St.

John.

And then he had a little box on the outside that was actually in Mexican territory.

And so he could sell Mexican cigars from the box without having to pay the duties on them there as well.

And I think it's important to recognize that these government agencies and the border towns around them are initially made to support trans-border movement.

As those towns get more heavily developed, it becomes hard at times, particularly for government agents, but also for regular people to distinguish between when they're in Mexico and when they're in the United States.

Customs officers start saying, you know, it's impossible for us to police this space if people can just walk through John Brickwood's saloon and we can't see if they're entering the U.S.

or Mexico.

Border towns became particularly important because they had ports of entry where people pay their customs duties.

So if someone can take over a border town, they can take that money.

The U.S.

government deploys the military to the border to protect people on the U.S.

side.

You also have, you know, intelligence officers operating on the border looking out for spies.

More customs agents coming out trying to watch for smuggling of guns and money.

And then you have immigration officials who are trying to manage the flow of refugees.