Border Fence Plan Riles Texas Officials

Rio Grand Valley Residents Say Barrier Would Cut Off Access To River

(AP)  A new map showing President George W. Bush's planned border fence has riled Rio Grande Valley officials, who say the proposed barrier reneges on assurances that the river would remain accessible to farmers, wildlife and recreation.

City officials in the heavily populated valley had anticipated a “virtual” fence of surveillance cameras and border patrols.

Instead, a Customs and Border Protection map depicts a structure running piecemeal along a 600-mile stretch of Texas from Presidio to Brownsville, a border region where daily life is binational.

“We were given the impression that they were not going to be building walls, that there would be more cameras, surveillance, boots on the ground,” said Mike Allen, head of McAllen Economic Development Corp.

“This is going to seriously affect the farmers,” he said. “They will not have access to water. It's just going to create bedlam.”

The map, obtained by The Associated Press, was attached to a memo addressed to “Dear Texas Homeland Security Partner.” It outlines a plan to build 370 miles (of fence and 200 miles of vehicle barriers, such as concrete barriers, by the end of 2008.

Of the 370 miles of fence, Texas is to have 153, Arizona 129, California 76, and New Mexico 12. Most of the vehicle barriers will be in Arizona and New Mexico.

Russ Knocke, a spokesman for Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, said the so-called virtual fence will not work in urban areas and the federal government has delivered a consistent message to local officials.

“We are utilizing traditional fencing at the border generally in those areas including metropolitan areas where it is easier for an alien ... to conceal themselves in a home or a business,” he said.

Knocke said agents would use such advanced technology as sensors, radar and aerial drones in remote border areas.

Environmentalists fear the fence will block Rio Grande water access to endangered cats such as ocelots and jaguarundi and ruin key feeding and resting areas for migratory birds.

Knocke said environmental assessments were being conducted, but border security outweighed such concerns.

“For more than two decades this has been a problem that has been bubbling up,” he said. “There's an expectation by the American people that we secure our borders.”

Chertoff has already waived requirements to get permits in environmentally sensitive areas in order to expedite construction of the fence, Knocke said.

Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas said the fence would also damage the regional economy, which thrives on cross-border commerce.

Mexicans cross daily to make bank deposits, buy real estate, shop and work — activities Salinas said would be threatened by the ill feelings generated in Mexico by the fence.

“Irrigation, that's one concern,” Salinas said. “The other is the indirect message you're sending to you neighbor to the south.”

Bush called for 700 miles of fence during his national address on immigration reform last May, and Congress approved it. Of the $1.2 billion needed, at least $400 million has already been appropriated, Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar said.

The new Democratic majority in the U.S. Congress could modify the law or withhold funding, Cuellar said.

“It's going to be difficult, but we're sure going to do everything we can,” he said.

Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said the lack of local input bothered her.

“I would be very concerned if they are not being listened to,” she said. “We should have local input and private property rights should be taken into account. ... I expect the department (of Homeland Security) to honor that commitment.”

McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez doubts a fence would be effective. He said he has seen people forming human ladders and jumping off international bridges into the United States in full daylight and within view of Border Patrol and Customs agents.

“No physical wall is going to keep people from coming in,” he said. “The core of the problem is an economic issue. We have integrated all of the markets in North America but we have failed to integrate the labor market. It's the market forces that are bringing people here to work.”

Officials said Chertoff assured them they'd be consulted before any fence went up.

“We met with Secretary Chertoff and we were given a commitment that he would talk to the locals before building a wall, so we're surprised that this is happening,” Salinas said. “We feel there is already a structure there, which is the Rio Grande river."

[coffeehead-2009]

But the wall has such great success in iraq?
Just yesterday we heard about how well the "gated community" is progressing!

It is NOT the "market forces" bringing this; as cortez states. It is the capitalist forces -
It is perfectly fine with all 3 of the FTAA governments as it is a way to eliminate the middle class completely (as mexico has for years)



Open Borders for Low-Wage Workers
The CFR document calls for creating a "North American preference" so that employers can recruit low-paid workers from anywhere in North America. No longer will illegal aliens have to be smuggled across the border; employers can openly recruit foreigners willing to work for a fraction of U.S. wages. Just to make sure that bringing cheap labor from Mexico is an essential part of the plan, the CFR document calls for "a seamless North American market" and for "the extension of full labor mobility to Mexico."

The burden on the U.S. taxpayers will include so-called "multilateral development" from the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, "long-term loans in pesos," and a North American Investment Fund to send U.S. private capital to Mexico.

The experience of the European Union and the World Trade Organization makes it clear that a common market requires a court system, so the CFR document calls for "a permanent tribunal for North American dispute resolution."

http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/2005/july05/psrjuly05.html

[pensacola8-2009]

What the Latin countries need is a major telecom infrastructure overhaul. They need to drop their high taxes and toll charges that impede buisness. They also need a major Fiber-Optic Backbone and new voice and data switching networks to connect South America through Mexico up to the USA. With lower tarrifs and taxes, and a better voice and internet data network, latins could move buisiness into the 21 century and bring prosperity back into their countries. They need to modernize their data infrastructure for better police and goverment archive access. 1.2 billion would be a good start. I would rather see a proactive expenditure like that, instead of a silly fence or wall that signifies heartless reaction to a socio-economic problem. Our security in the western hemisphere depends on strengthening the alliance with our neighbors. We have to fight drug cartels and terrorists together. Thats hard to do with fences and walls between us.

[smb221]

Officials are probably pissed because they have family that lives in Mexico.

[ralan40]

I think if they are coming from the other side, we should put the wall on THEIR side of the river. We can call it "cultural heritage and land urban protection...The CHALUPA wall. Sounds better thanthe 'tortilla curtain' we have now.