Published: Feb 5, 2005 WASHINGTON (AP) - A ragged fence and a canyon called Smugglers Gulch mark the westernmost stretch of the California-Mexico border, a favorite crossing point for illegal immigrants and drug runners.
Posted on 02/04/2005 11:45:12 PM PST by TheOtherOne
Immigration Bill Could Settle Fight Over California-Mexico Border Fence
Published: Feb 5, 2005 WASHINGTON (AP) - A ragged fence and a canyon called Smugglers Gulch mark the westernmost stretch of the California-Mexico border, a favorite crossing point for illegal immigrants and drug runners.
The federal government and a powerful local Republican congressman have been pushing for years to fortify the 3 1/2-mile stretch of border just north of Tijuana, Mexico. Their plan is opposed by California coastal regulators and environmentalists who say it could harm a fragile Pacific estuary.
Now supporters may be getting closer to victory. A provision in an immigration bill expected to pass the House next week would give the homeland security secretary authority to move forward with the project regardless of any laws that stand in the way, and would bar courts from hearing lawsuits against it.
"We need to get this thing done, and we need to do it for security reasons, and at some point we just need to do it," said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., whose district is just north of the border.
But environmentalists and the California Coastal Commission, the independent state agency that regulates the state's coastline, say the plan promoted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection is too extreme.
Among other provisions, it would level the peaks lining Smugglers Gulch and fill part of the deep canyon with 2 million cubic yards of dirt in order to build a road across it. The Coastal Commission voted down the proposal a year ago, saying it would erode soil near the federally protected Tijuana Estuary that's home to marshes, California brown pelicans and rare plants and birds.
"We're going to destroy our environment in the name of fear," said Peter Douglas, the commission's executive director. "Frankly, there are ways that we can do both, protecting the environment and meeting the concerns of border control and homeland security."
Coastal Commission officials contended Customs and Border Protection didn't meet them halfway when they proposed alternatives, including switchback roads through the gulch.
A spokesman for Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to calls for comment Friday. But Hunter said environmentalists' demands were unreasonable.
"You could run a thousand plans past some of these people. I don't think they understand the issues and I don't think they care," he said.
Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., whose district encompasses the border, disagreed.
"The waiving of all environmental rules for this is just criminal," Filner said. "It's just too extensive a trade-off for the limited security advantage."
More than 10 miles of the border between the Pacific Ocean and inland hills have already been fortified with fences, lights, motion sensors and beefed-up patrols. The border agency's apprehensions of illegal immigrants declined 88 percent from 1994 to 2003.
The provision to finish off the border barriers is part of immigration legislation introduced last week by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., that would also prevent illegal immigrants from getting driver's licenses and make it harder for them to get political asylum.
The measures passed the House last year as part of the intelligence bill, but were struck from the final package. The bill is set for a House vote next week and is expected to pass.
How the fence provision would fare in the Senate is unclear. California's two Democratic senators have not announced their positions.
AP-ES-02-05-05 0210EST
about darn time
What in the hell is wrong with this country???...trying to close the gate after so many have come here. Both democratic and republican politicians are raping the taxpayer to death over this issue....
"'We need to get this thing done, and we need to do it for security reasons, and at some point we just need to do it,' said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., whose district is just north of the border."
Yes his district is - and I am so proud to be a part of it. As usual, Duncan is leading the way in getting security at the border.
And .. I like the fact this is a separate issue from the worker thingy.
Why are they worried about the marshes now! They have been polluted for years by sewage from TJ. A fence will not make the situation worse.
Many of the fleeing Mexicans actually want a fence --- once they make it over to this side of course. They know how bad that bandits are becoming. Even the drug kingpins are moving over trying to escape what they've created. You can always spot the mansion of one of them --- they've got the highest fences possible.
Exactly....
Tell like it is...thank you.
BUMP
El Bumpo!
Agenda 21.
IMO the only "gang" that has done more to destroy this country than the enviro whack jobs is the ACLU.
A provision in an immigration bill expected to pass the House next week would give the homeland security secretary authority to move forward with the project regardless of any laws that stand in the way, and would bar courts from hearing lawsuits against it.
I'm all for closing off the border but why are they going about it this way? Passing "laws" to cirumvent "laws"!
What happened to repealing laws? This is a dangerous thing.
ping
>> "trying to close the gate after so many have come here" <<
Well yes, but lets work to keep the millions more that want to come here illegally - out.
>> "What happened to repealing laws? This is a dangerous thing." <<
Yes, it is a dangerous situation all the way around. But are you proposing that Environmental laws are just repealed in general, instead of passing a law that addresses a specific and limited security situation?
Uhm, the fence is actually a ladder. It is horizontally corrugated steel. If we really wanted to stop them the corrugation would have been verticle.
Why doesn't the Fed call the contractor in Israel and put up a similar fence? After all Germany has done the same and is erecting a fence along their border while dissin Israel's fence.
Environmentalism at all costs ping.
California Coastal Commission, Environmental agency regs are just rules set up in a soviet sort of way. They have no power outside of what Congress allows. Congress is the real regulating body.
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