联邦边境墙的修建阻断了乔尔·鲁伊斯通往德克萨斯州圣伊格纳西奥镇码头的通路。
Federal border wall construction cuts Joel Ruiz off from his boat ramp in San Ygnacio, Texas.
摄影：埃尔莎·赫尔 这个德克萨斯州的小镇暂时阻止了特朗普政府修建边境墙的计划。与以往一样，圣伊格纳西奥镇的居民们团结一致，共同抵制可能危及小镇发展的工程。本文由非营利新闻机构“经济困境报道项目”协助发布并提供支持。
Photograph: Elsa Hull A small Texas town stopped Trump’s border wall construction – for now As they had in the past, San Ygnacio residents banded together to stop a development threatening their town This story was co-published and supported by the journalism non-profit the Economic Hardship Reporting Project Joel Ruiz pointed his cane toward a long piece of metal lying in the dirt.
乔尔·鲁伊斯用拐杖指向地上那根长长的金属条。那些不受欢迎的施工队将它遗留在他位于河边的地产上——几十年来，鲁伊斯一直在此居住并经营着一家小型渔业生意。现年90岁的鲁伊斯依然悉心照料着这片土地。然而今年7月，重型机械将原本长满牧豆树与茂密灌木的土地翻了个底朝天。一道高达30英尺的钢制围栏被竖立在河岸沿线，其中也包括鲁伊斯位于墨西哥对岸的地产。
Unwanted construction crews had left it behind on his riverfront property where he has lived and run a small fishing business for decades in San Ygnacio, Texas At 90, Ruiz still tends the land. But in July, heavy machinery gouged the earth where mesquite and dense brush once grew. A steel barricade of 30ft-high bars was erected across the riverfront, including on his property just across the Rio Grande from Mexico.
数月来，鲁伊斯与其他几位圣伊格纳西奥镇居民一直试图阻止在这座仅有约400名墨西哥裔美国人的小镇上修建联邦边境墙。他们曾阻拦推土机作业、遭到逮捕，还翻出了已有75年历史的土地记录，并提起诉讼质疑联邦政府在此施工的合法性。尽管居民们坚称县内几乎所有河岸土地均为私人所有，政府却仍以一项存在了数十年的所谓“权利”为依据强行施工。
For months, Ruiz and a handful of other San Ygnacio residents have been trying to halt the construction of a federal border wall in their Mexican American town of roughly 400 people They’ve blocked bulldozers, been arrested, unearthed 75-year-old land records and filed lawsuits challenging the federal government’s authority to build here. Even though residents say nearly all the riverfront land in the county is privately owned, the government is building on it anyway, claiming a decades-old right.
虽然目前施工暂时被叫停——但这只是口头上的让步而非法院裁决——这种暂缓状态其实十分脆弱：诉讼尚未了结，联邦政府预留的施工资金也依然未动用，居民们深知施工队随时可能卷土重来。不过他们正从小镇历史上曾成功反抗政府的记忆中汲取力量。
While they have stopped construction on the disputed land for now – a verbal concession, not a court order – the reprieve is precarious: the lawsuits are unresolved, the federal money set aside for construction remains in place and residents know the crews could be back. But they are drawing on the memory of a town that rose up against the government once before.
“这片地方是我们仅有的家园，”与两个女儿共同拥有河边地产的埃尔莎·赫尔说道，“过去居民们曾战胜过联邦政府，这次我们也能做到。”“这对我们而言生死攸关。”
“This little spot is all we have,” said Elsa Hull, who owns property downriver with her two daughters. “But [residents] fought the federal government before and won – and we can do it again.”‘Life or death for us’
圣伊格纳西奥建于1830年，坐落于里奥格兰德河畔。最初只是一片牧场聚集区，后来逐渐发展成一座边境小镇。如今，镇上的广场周围仍矗立着许多用河岸开采的砂岩建造的房屋。该镇隶属于萨帕塔县，当地约有38%的居民生活在贫困线以下，家庭年收入中位数约为3.9万美元。许多居民从事医疗、教育、餐饮及畜牧业工作。边境巡逻队是该地区的重要雇主，其在拉雷多的分支机构雇佣了约3,025人。
Founded along the Rio Grande in 1830, San Ygnacio grew from a cluster of ranches into a small border town. Today, its plaza is still lined with homes made of sandstone quarried from the riverbank. The town sits in Zapata county where roughly 38% of residents live below the poverty line and the median household income is about $39,000. Many work in healthcare, schools, food service and ranching. The border patrol is a major regional employer its sector in Laredo employs about 3,025 people.
此次筑墙工程是特朗普政府重新推进的边境墙建设计划的一部分，整个扩建项目耗资约465亿美元，资金来源于所谓的《一项伟大法案》。圣伊格纳西奥正处于资金开始投入建设的区域之一；值得注意的是，此时边境被捕人数正大幅减少。鲁伊斯称，如今他很少见到有人试图穿越这段河段。
The construction is part of the Trump administration’s renewed border-wall push – a roughly $46.5bn expansion funded by what is known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. San Ygnacio is located in one of the stretches where that money is now hitting the ground – and it’s going up as the number of border apprehensions is dropping drastically. Ruiz said he rarely sees anyone crossing this stretch of river any more.
里奥格兰德河也是圣伊格纳西奥唯一的饮用水源，而边境墙则修建在河流的洪泛区。为加快施工进度，美国国土安全部豁免了30项联邦法律，其中包括《清洁水法》与《国家环境政策法》，从而免除了此类大型项目通常必须进行的环境评估。（国土安全部未对《卫报》的置评请求作出回应。）在德克萨斯州圣伊格纳西奥的洪泛区内，美国与墨西哥边境墙的施工正在进行中。
The Rio Grande is also San Ygnacio’s sole source of drinking water, and the wall is being built in its floodplain. To expedite construction, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) waived 30 federal laws – among them the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, eliminating the environmental review that would normally accompany a project of this scale. (The DHS did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.) US-Mexico border wall contractors in the floodplain of San Ygnacio, Texas.
为填补这一信息空白，总部位于拉雷多的里奥格兰德国际研究中心自行开展了一项评估。评估结果显示，沿里奥格兰德河修建的边境墙及浮标系统将加剧洪水灾害，甚至在某些地段会导致防洪设施彻底失效。
To fill that gap, the Laredo-based Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC) commissioned its own. The assessment warned wall and buoy system along and in the Rio Grande would worsen flooding – and, in places, fail outright.
“这对我们来说是生死攸关的事，”该中心执行主任特里西亚·科尔特斯说。她警告称，护墙系统一旦决口，将是突如其来且灾难性的——房屋被毁，生命受威胁。“护墙将像紧身衣一样束缚河流，迫使洪水水位上涨、流速加快。”圣伊格纳西奥的建设在毫无预兆的情况下开始了。居民们看着河边兴起了他们所谓的“工人营地”，预感大事将至。
“This is life or death for us,” said Tricia Cortez, the center’s executive director. A breach of the wall system, she warned, would be sudden and catastrophic – homes destroyed, lives endangered. “The wall will straitjacket the river, forcing flood waters to rise and move faster.”Construction in San Ygnacio had begun without notice. Residents watched what they called a “man camp” rise at its edge and sensed something was coming.
在一次原本讨论其他事务的六月社区会议上，消息从会场后排开始传开：承包商正在河岸清理土地。几位居民赶紧跑下去，质问设备操作员，告诉他们这是私有财产。
At a June community meeting to discuss other business, word began spreading through the back of the room: contractors were clearing land along the riverbank. Several residents hurried down and confronted the equipment operators, telling them they were on private property.
赫尔在德克萨斯环境质量委员会担任环境调查员长达25年。她回忆起自己常坐在悬崖边树下的长椅上，眺望河对岸的鹿、猞猁、郊狼和日落。此后，边境建设把那棵树撞倒，把长椅砸碎。
Hull spent 25 years as an environmental investigator for the Texas commission on environmental quality She recalled how she would watch deer, bobcats, coyotes and sunsets over the river from a bench beneath a tree on the bluff. Border construction has since knocked the tree down and smashed the bench.
“我生活的每一部分都与格兰德河紧密相连，”赫尔说。“对我来说，这条河是神圣的。”六月，承包商在鲁伊兹的住所和房车公园附近施工时，他邀请赫尔和她的朋友来看受损情况。施工队铲平了树木，切断了一条灌溉管道。鲁伊兹在赴约前签署了一份文件，授权赫尔和她的朋友留下来看管财产。
“Every part of my life is intertwined with the Rio Grande,” Hull said. “To me this river is sacred.”When contractors arrived near Ruiz’s home and RV park in June, he invited Hull and her friend to see the damage done. Crews had razed trees and severed an irrigation line. Before leaving for an appointment, Ruiz signed a paper authorizing Hull and her friend to stay and watch the property.
两辆承包商卡车溜进了大门。赫尔说，一名工人反复晃动一张标有“CBP”字样的卡片——推测是海关与边境保卫局。随后她注意到他的背心上有“西南谷建设公司”的标识。
Two contractor trucks slipped through the gate. Hull said one worker repeatedly flashed a card marked “CBP” – presumably Customs and Border Protection. Then she noticed Southwest Valley Constructors identification on his vest.
2026年8月14日，在德克萨斯州圣伊格纳西奥的一个鸟类保护区，一名治安官副手与埃尔莎·赫尔对峙。
A sheriff’s deputy confronts Elsa Hull in a bird sanctuary in San Ygnacio, Texas, on 14 August 2026.
摄影：马克西娜·雷韦莱斯“你不是CBP，”赫尔回忆自己当时对他说。当另一辆卡车驶来时，赫尔把车开到入口处挡住。更多卡车赶到，随之而来的还有治安官副手、州警和边境巡逻队特工。“我们当时被这些人团团围住了，”赫尔说。
Photograph: Maxine Reveles“You’re not CBP,” Hull recalled telling him. When another truck approached, Hull drove her car across the entrance. More trucks arrived, followed by sheriff’s deputies, state troopers and border patrol agents. “We were just surrounded by all these men,” Hull said.
赫尔调出了县政府的估价地图，辩称施工队是在鲁伊斯的地产上。一名副警长坚称这块地是联邦所有。最后，赫尔把水瓶放在车引擎盖上，坐了下来。“去他的，”她说，“抓我吧。”他们真的抓了她。
Hull pulled up the county appraisal map and argued the crews were on Ruiz’s property. A deputy insisted the land was federal. Finally, Hull put her water bottle on the hood of her car and sat down. “Fuck it,” she said. “Arrest me.”
8月14日，赫尔再次返回，手持一面旗帜，一面写着“保持我河自由”，另一面写着“墙和浮标害死人”。当一名治安官副手隔着围栏叫她时，她以为他想谈谈。结果，她被戴上手铐，再次被捕。
They did. On 14 August, Hull returned, carrying a flag that read “Keep Our River Free” on one side and “Walls and Buoys Kill” on the other. When a sheriff’s deputy called to her from across a fence, she thought he wanted to talk. Instead, she was handcuffed and arrested again.
过去的胜利 圣伊格纳西奥曾为这块地与联邦政府交锋过——并赢了。当政府承包商坚称土地属联邦时，建筑文物修复专家弗兰克·“奇普”·布里斯科开始翻阅县档案。
A win from the past San Ygnacio had fought the federal government for this land once before – and won. When government contractors insisted the land was federal, Frank “Chip” Briscoe, an architectural conservator, started digging through county records.
线索指向20世纪50年代初，当时政府修建了法尔孔大坝。水库淹没了河岸边的历史牧场社区和原住民遗址，圣伊格纳西奥也被列入征用清单，准备为水库腾地。但居民拒绝接受。1951年，在当地退伍军人和市民领袖的组织下，200多人签署请愿书反对该措施。奏效了：政府将圣伊格纳西奥从征用范围中划出，这段河湾地带成为唯一幸免于水库淹没的河岸地带。七十年后，小镇再次援引那项豁免条款。
The trail led back to the early 1950s, when the government built the Falcon dam. Its reservoir submerged historic ranch communities and Indigenous sites along the river, and San Ygnacio was scheduled to be condemned and cleared for the reservoir, too. But residents refused to accept it. In 1951, more than 200 people signed a petition, organized by local veterans and civic leaders, opposing the measure. It worked: the government carved San Ygnacio out of the condemnation, the one stretch along the river bend spared from the reservoir. Seventy years later, the town is invoking that same exclusion again.
弗兰克·“奇普”·布里斯科和儿子在德克萨斯州圣伊格纳西奥视察自家土地受损情况。
Frank ‘Chip’ Briscoe and his son survey damage to his land in San Ygnacio, Texas.
布里斯科和律师里卡多·德安达查阅了后续的地产记录，仍未发现联邦政府后来收购了这块豁免土地的证据。这些文件给了德安达实质性的行动依据。6月中旬，他代表鲁伊斯与美国陆军工程兵团会面，主张施工队无法律依据在争议地产上建设。
Briscoe and attorney Ricardo de Anda searched subsequent property records and still found no evidence that the federal government had later acquired the excluded land. The documents gave De Anda something concrete to act on. In mid-June, he met with the US army corps of engineers on Ruiz’s behalf, arguing the crews had no legal grounds to build on the disputed property.
当施工继续进行时，德安达发出了警告信，并对联邦政府提起了两起诉讼，指控联邦政府违反了第五修正案拿走了私人财产。另外两名土地所有者正准备起诉，德安达计划在州法院起诉承包商西南谷建筑公司。土地所有者提出非法侵入犯罪投诉，而大约十几名居民则敦促当地官员进行干预。
When construction continued, De Anda sent a warning letter and filed two lawsuits against the federal government, alleging it took private property in violation of the fifth amendment Two more landowners are preparing to sue, and De Anda plans to sue the contractor, Southwest Valley Constructors, in state court. Landowners filed criminal trespass complaints, while about a dozen residents pressed local officials to intervene.
乔尔·鲁伊斯（Joel Ruiz）在德克萨斯州圣伊格纳西奥（San Ygnacio）的房产的边境墙旁。
Joel Ruiz by the border wall on his property in San Ygnacio, Texas.
照片：Tricia Cortez据De Anda称，大约一个月后，县检察官安排了与承包商和联邦官员的会议。“他们同意停止，”他说，工作人员暂时撤退了。
Photograph: Tricia Cortez About a month later, according to De Anda, the county attorney arranged a meeting with contractors and federal officials. “They agreed to stop,” he said, and the crews pulled back – for now.
对于德安达来说，停止建设只是计划的一部分。“我们的战略是影响国民意识，”他说。剩下的只是时间问题。他们每一天都在坚持自己的立场--用他们的身体、他们的行为、他们的诉讼--来购买更多的东西。他们正期待着中期选举，希望国会的变化能给他们另一个机会。他们打赌他们能坚持下去。
For De Anda, stopping construction is only part of the plan. “Our strategy is to affect the national consciousness,” he said. The rest is a matter of time. Every day they hold the line – with their bodies, their deeds, their lawsuits – buys more of it. They are looking toward the midterms, hoping a change in Congress could give them another opening. They are betting they can outlast it.
在圣伊格纳西奥的Grito de Septiembre节上，1951年请愿书及其签名页的放大副本在广场上展出。居民们聚集在他们周围，寻找他们祖先的名字。
At San Ygnacio’s Grito de Septiembre festival, enlarged copies of the 1951 petition and its signature pages were displayed in the plaza. Residents gathered around them, searching for the names of their ancestors.
回到鲁伊斯的土地上，人们已经不再来钓白鲈鱼和鳄鱼;当施工开始时，它挡住了他的船坡道。用他的话说，他在这里经营的小渔业现在“完蛋了”。
Back on Ruiz’s land, people have stopped coming to fish for white bass and alligator gar; when construction began, it blocked his boat ramp access. The small fishing business he ran here is now, in his words, “kaput”.
但鲁伊斯还是会去河边1973年，他帮助在他的财产旁边建立了一个鸟类保护区。“我的宝贝，”他这样称呼它，“它是我造的。”当被问到他每天到河边散步是否已经成为一种观察船员返回的方式--他们的设备仍然闲置在陆地上--他摇了摇头。他说，他来这里“只是为了来这里”。
Still, Ruiz keeps coming to the river. In 1973, he helped establish a bird sanctuary beside his property. “My baby,” he called it. “I built it.”When asked whether his daily walks down to the river had become a way of watching for the crews to return – their equipment still sitting idle on the land – he shook his head. He was here “just to be here”, he said.