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Congressman, Texans clash over border McALLEN, Texas (AP) - South Texas officials who oppose a border fence are stepping up their criticism of a Colorado congressman who favors the divider. The mayors of Brownsville and Eagle Pass said Friday that U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo falsely suggested that they believe there is no border between the two countries. In a letter Friday, Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada and Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster, who is also chairman of the Texas Border Coalition, called the suggestion "ridiculously juvenile," and noted that the Rio Grande is a clear border between the United States and...

WASHINGTON — Leaders in a small Texas border city felt blindsided Wednesday after learning that a judge had ordered public land turned over temporarily to the federal government as it works on a border fence. U.S. District Judge Alia Moses Ludlum ordered the city of Eagle Pass to “surrender” the 233 acres of city-owned land by Tuesday. The Justice Department had sued for access to the land on Monday. Ludlum’s ruling came the same day, before the city could muster a challenge. Meanwhile, officials in Cameron County, which is also facing construction of a section of the border fence, are...

EAGLE PASS — Weeks of investigation and a resume full of lies caught up with this border town's interim city manager Tuesday as council members voted unanimously to take steps to fire him amid applause and whistles from a standing-room-only crowd. "Once the investigation was completed, it was an easy decision," said Mayor Chad Foster, who made the motion to set Glen Starnes' pre-termination hearing for next Tuesday. Less than 45 minutes after the council ended its closed-door session to debate Starnes' termination, police arrested him, charging him with fraudulently getting a government job, Maverick County Sheriff Tomas S. Herrera...

WASHINGTON - The federal government sued Monday to get on land owned by a Texas city whose mayor has been highly critical of a planned U.S-Mexico border fence.The lawsuit was filed by U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton against the city of Eagle Pass, Texas, said Justice Department spokesman Andrew Ames. The city's mayor is Chad Foster, who serves as chairman of the Texas Border Coalition. "The first battle of the Texas Revolution was in Gonzales, Texas ... Gonzales posted a flag that said ‘Come and Take It.' ... We ain't rolling over," Foster said after hearing of the lawsuit. The coalition,...

Faced with clear evidence that its probationary city manager lied repeatedly on his impressive resume, the Eagle Pass City Council shrugged and took a step toward offering Glen Starnes the permanent job. The decision came after an impassioned 15-minute address Tuesday by Starnes to the council reciting his six months of accomplishments in Eagle Pass and denouncing his critics, including the San Antonio Express-News. "The worst thing they could find on me is that I lied on one part of my resume," said Starnes, who blamed the "old political machine" for his troubles. "If they want to get rid of...

DEL RIO — It began as a routine nocturnal encounter between the U.S. Border Patrol and a group of Mexicans illegally crossing the Rio Grande. It ended with the deaths of three immigrants amid allegations of misconduct by the American agents. A federal wrongful death lawsuit filed last year accuses the agents of contributing to the drownings of the two women and teenager early Sept. 24, 2004, near Eagle Pass. "These agents threw rocks ... and used profanities in an effort to make them return to Mexico by swimming across the Rio Grande," reads the lawsuit, which claims the agents...

El Camino Real to become historic trail By The Associated Press Overcoming private property concerns, Congress has passed legislation that would designate El Camino Real de los Tejas, which stretches from the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas, to Natchitoches, La., as a National Historic Trail. El Camino Real was a corridor of trails used by settlers, immigrants, Indians and the military. The trail is a combination of routes totaling almost 2,600 miles. It also served as a path for such Texas heroes as Davy Crockett and Sam Houston, who fought for Texas independence from Mexico. "This legislation grants the...