Protecting the border or a photo-op?

Photo shows Utah National Guard troops from the 116th Construction Equipment Support Company - the first National Guard unit on the border - preparing to extend a wall along the border in San Luis, Arizona.

As officials put more patrols and fencing along the US-Mexico border, immigrant advocates fear more deaths among the tens of thousands who attempt the trip, as they risk more perilous routes.

My first response when I saw this photo was to think it was a political photo-op. Maybe that is too cynical a view. Anyway, it looks like three Guardsmen hammering a nail and three serving as supervisors.

Photo: Khampha Bouaphanh / AP (Courtesy of Truthout)