At the Border, on the Night Watch

Securing the Mexican Border: Marc Lacey of The New York Times reports from Douglas, Ariz., on how the numbers of illegal immigrants crossing the border there has significantly dropped over the last 10 years.

By MARC LACEY
Published: October 12, 2011

DOUGLAS, Ariz. — The lanky young man with two bales of marijuana slung over his back who was apprehended by Border Patrol agents in a rugged area about a mile from the border here one recent night represented both the significant strides the country has made in controlling its southern border and the challenges that remain.

“If you would have visited 11 years ago, it was like a scene out of a movie,â€