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 News from Around the Americas | October 2006 
Border Texans Question Fence Plan
 Lynn Brezosky - Associated Press
| "Who wants to close off the river to Mexico? The river is the lifeblood for a lot of cities."
- Michael Vickers |
Jeff Reed offers outdoor dining on the Rio Grande at his 'Pepe's on the River' restaurant. But as President Bush signed a law for border fencing Thursday, he wondered if his restaurant soon will be 'Pepe's on the Fence.'
Down river in Brownsville, farmer Fermin Leal considered his jalapeno and lima bean fields running to river's edge and wondered if the government intended to cut through his crops, run irrigation pipes under the fence, or buy him out.
'Most of our land goes up to what's supposed to be the border, and yes, we need access to river water,' Leal said.
The law is intended to help secure the border from illegal immigration, drug smuggling, and terrorism. Republicans in Congress see it as their most significant accomplishment on the immigration issue. Bush Thursday called it 'an important step in our nation's efforts to secure our borders.'
But up and down Texas' watery boundary with Mexico, reaction has ranged from anger and worry to humor about something that locals say doesn't seem thought out.
Landowners, sick of illegal immigrants cutting their fences, stealing and trespassing, tired of worrying about smugglers of humans and drugs endangering their families, demanded that Congress tighten the border.
But not, they say, with a double layer, $6 billion fence cutting through their land and keeping them _ not to mention livestock and wildlife _ from the life-sustaining river.
'It's not going to work in Texas,' said former Minuteman border-watcher Michael Vickers, who owns a cattle ranch on the border. 'Who wants to close off the river to Mexico? The river is the lifeblood for a lot of cities.'
Vickers said he worries that either his land will be cut off from the rest of the state and the country or he will lose access to 50 acres of water rights he has and can sell to area municipalities for up to $2,000 an acre.
'I'd be in a DMZ-type zone, in between two countries,' Vickers said.
Frank Schuster, who owns a 3,000-acre vegetable farm in the Rio Grande Valley, said he thinks a fence is a great idea, anywhere but Texas.
'I am in favor of a fence where there is not a running river,' Schuster said. 'We have the Rio Grande that at times flows pretty good water, and I'm not sure how they are going do it.'
Much of the land along the Texas side of the river is privately owned, some dating back to Spanish land grants. The $1.2 billion 'downpayment' included in a previous bill is only a fraction of some cost estimates for the fencing, to say nothing of the potential cost of hundreds of miles of eminent domain.
Environmentalists say the fence also would destroy decades of government work building up wildlife corridors to allow endangered species like ocelots and jaguarundi access to the river.
The legislation calls for piecemeal fencing, with one Texas section stretching from Del Rio to Eagle Pass and a much larger piece along the 361 river-miles from Laredo to Brownsville, where much of the border population lives.
'I could see if they put the fence in desolate areas and isolated areas, but to come down here and interfere with businesses and stuff such as mine?' said Reed. 'Nobody's crossing right here anyway, not with a lot of activity. We've got 500, 600 people sitting out here. They're not going to pull up a boatload and start unloading.'
Johnny Hart, owner of the Riverside Club joked that his boat excursions for customers could be 'tours of the fence going up.'
Mayors from cities along U.S. Highway 83, which parallels the river, have spoken out against the economic and diplomatic impact of the fence in a region where Mexico and the United States interact fluidly.
Laredo Mayor Raul Salinas said the symbolism of a wall between the historic 'Dos Laredos' would be detrimental to the nation's busiest land port.
'Our opinions were kind of left out,' Salinas said. 'Here we are in the midst of an economic mega-boom and we're building fences. ... What ridiculous symbolism. Here we are tearing walls down around the world and we're putting up walls.'
Mexican customers make up about 35 percent of the city of McAllen's retail trade and have been buying real estate and opening businesses in the city at a rapid pace.
'The most important thing is it sends the wrong message,' said Steve Ahlenius, president of the McAllen Chamber of Commerce. 'It sends the message that you're not wanted or you're not welcome. I know I would be insulted.'
'I think there are better ways,' he added. 'Human instinct is that if you have a 10-foot fence you're going to find an 11-foot ladder.'
Associated Press Writer Alicia A. Caldwell contributed to this report from El Paso. |
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