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On the Border (32 photos)

The border between the United States and Mexico has become a major issue in the upcoming presidential election. It stretches 3,169 kilometers (1,969 miles), crossing deserts, rivers, towns, and cities from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico. Every year, an estimated 350 million people legally cross the border, with some 400,000 entering into the United States illegally. No single barrier stretches across the entire border, instead, it is lined with a patchwork of steel and concrete fences, infrared cameras, sensors, drones, and nearly 20,000 U.S. Border Patrol agents. Getty Images photographer John Moore has covered many miles of the border over recent years, capturing images of surveillance, escapes, arrests, detentions, and encounters between those crossing the border and those securing it.