Trump's push to accelerate Texas-Mexico border wall project inflames Rio Grande Valley residents

The Dallas Morning News ^ | October 14, 2018 | Todd J. Gillman, Washington Bureau Chief

[2ndDivisionVet]

HIDALGO — The Homeland Security Department's decision last week to speed construction of a border wall in the lower Rio Grande Valley has inflamed local residents just as the midterm election is in sight.

Politically, it cuts both ways. As Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke stokes voter interest by reminding them about President Donald Trump's plans, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz also is using the issue to excite his base.

At the border, where miles of gaps separate segments of wall constructed a decade ago — hardly any of it as imposing as the barrier Trump envisions — some residents are angry that the administration decided to waive environmental and other regulations halfway through a two-month comment period.

Moving ahead without waiting even long enough to collect feedback suggests to wall critics that Homeland Security was only going through the motions in response to Trump's impatience.

Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a Democratic congressman from McAllen, called the plan a "monumental waste of money."

"The Republicans love it. We look at it in terms of common sense. Does it work? Is it offensive to our friends and neighbors to the south?" he said.

Cruz stands with the president in demanding a wall, and mentions it regularly on the stump, as he did Saturday night in El Paso....

[Lurker]

“Is it offensive to our friends and neighbors to the south?” he said.”

DILLIGAF?

L

[morphing libertarian]

dems worried about the government wasting money? ROTFLMAO

[dowcaet]

Democrats don’t want their potentially biggest voting bloc kept out of the country. That entire party is in full meltdown mode.

[Lurkinanloomin]

Anyone opposed to a barrier on the border belongs on the other side of it.

[txrefugee]

Generations of illegals in South Texas think they own the place. They never heard of the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hildago.

[Boomer]

Anyone opposed to a barrier on the border belongs on the other side of it.

So true and this could not be said too many times. It should be a rallying cry. We invite all those who oppose the wall to go back to their home country or expatriate.

[patriotfury]

The fix is easy! Let's just create an American territorial protectorate / DMZ type zone further south, so as not to endanger the Rio Grande River eco system. The way North America and Mexico are shaped, the further south we go, the shorter the border wall. Then all those Mexicans who want to be involved with our border, don't have to travel so far north, and the Mexicans in the DMZ can benefit from being broken free from the deadly brutal thug cartels they are all afraid of! /sarcasm - sort of 8√

[Oscar in Batangas]

Hey Rio Grande Valley residents:

It’s better to be pi$$ed off than pi$$ed on!

[gogeo]

Anyone opposed to a barrier on the border belongs on the other side of it.

Exactly so. Build a wall, let them decide which side they wish to be on.

[hal ogen]

I wonder what percent of people living within 100 miles of the border are illegal alien invaders?

[Theoria]

Bush screwed up on making payments to land owners and on taking property some years ago. Payments to non landowners, etc. There is reason to be cautious of .gov getting it right when it comes to dealing with land issues on the border.

[KTM rider]

propaganda at its finest. Those Rio Grande Valley residents are sure inflamed , a case of Blazing Saddles no doubt.

[BeauBo]

Two memos got published last week, where DHS waived all the restrictions to go ahead with barrier building. One memo covered Hidalgo County (Around McAllen, https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2018-22063), and the other Cameron County, around Brownsville.

It indicates that they are moving ahead to start building in a few months. In the case of the 20 mile Santa Teresa segment just West of El Paso, they issued a similar waiver on 23 January, and broke ground about 10 weeks later, on 9 April. Those twenty miles of bollards are now already standing tall, and curing in their massive concrete foundations.

Here (in yellow) are the segments in Hidalgo County that have just been cleared. Below that is Cameron County (which also includes 11 gates, to close small gaps):

[jmacusa]

Amen!

[jmacusa]

“Citizens of Rock Ridge There is trouble in our town! Our women have been stampeded and our cattle raped!’

[BeauBo]

“We look at it in terms of common sense (says a deceptive Democrat Congressman). Does it work?”

The Border Patrol reports that barrier infrastructure projects have a 100% success rate in reducing illegal traffic where they are installed. They work every time.

Because walls are so effective, humans have been building them since the Stone Age. Just as your door locks might not stop a determined SWAT Team from breaching into your house, they nevertheless are effective against a range of common threats. That makes locks not only useful, but it would be foolhardy to go without them.

[metmom]

Dems oppose it.

Color me surprised.......