I think that it’s ok in the cities/towns, it’s just that all the formerly more-or-less pristine areas are torn up. Buenos Aires NWR is closed, parts of Organ Pipe Cactus NM are closed, most of the other national forest/BLM, NPS areas are scarier than heck -— you can’t hike, bike, camp, explore ghost towns, go to wine country, or do much without feeling a target on your back.
We took my parents down to Arivaca a couple of years ago, ohmygosh, scariest thing ever. Very eerie all around and only BP vehicles.
When I last drove near the border “fence” near Douglas, I was really creeped out. Felt like bullets would start whizzing by any second. The higher parts of the wall make it seem like we’re in some ghetto nether region.
I have so many friends who go out and hunt and do stuff still, one by the very luck of the draw had bent down to tie a shoe, or he would have been likely gunned down by the long stream of smugglers, carrying machine guns. This was just a couple of months ago, near Douglas. He stayed hidden in the grass until they were gone, then he called the BP and tried to sneak back to his truck (the smugglers were hanging around). He was fully loaded but one against several, probably not much of a chance.
To put it in a nut shell, this is certainly no way to live!