Federal shutdown doesn’t keep some from visiting White Sands

The federal government’s partial shutdown hasn’t stopped some people from visiting White Sands National Monument though the site in southern New Mexico is closed.

The Alamogordo Daily News reports that hundreds of unauthorized visitors climbed over a fence to enter the monument since the shutdown started Saturday and that numerous cars were parked outside a perimeter fence Monday when people were seen playing on the dunes and taking selfies.

The visitors included Mihir Trivedi, who said he and his wife were on a trip from California to New Orleans and scheduled an overnight stop to visit the monument, which is 71 miles (114 kilometers) north of El Paso, Texas.

State highway workers were sent to the area Monday to erect “no parking” signs along U.S. 70 outside the monument.

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