Posted on 07/16/2007 8:53:11 PM PDT by kellynla
SAN DIEGO -- Bulldozers are rolling again on the U.S.-Mexico border, moving hundreds of tons of dirt to make way for a 16-foot steel fence in an area that once was the most popular crossing for illegal immigrants.
But before the construction resumed recently, the 14-mile project in San Diego was stalled for years by legal challenges from environmentalists, budget problems and difficulties buying land. Those delays are now raising doubts about a government plan to extend fencing to 370 miles of the Mexican border.
The Bush administration, under pressure to tighten border security, wants all 370 miles done by the end of next year.
"If past experience is any guide, it will cost a lot more than anyone expected and take a lot longer than anyone is talking about right now," said David Shirk, director of the University of San Diego's Trans-Border Institute, which studies border issues.
The Homeland Security Department has yet to say where it will build fences in California, Arizona and New Mexico. And the only proposal made public so far - for Texas - drew immediate criticism and is being reworked. Opponents worried it would limit access to the Rio Grande, damage the environment and infuriate Mexicans who cross the border to shop and visit.
The 1,952-mile border stretches over sensitive terrain, including two national wildlife refuges in Arizona. And negotiations for land owned by scores of ranchers and Indian tribes may be challenging.
Democratic Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas predicted the construction of so much fencing will be a "huge problem," noting opposition among many residents and even some Border Patrol field leaders who would prefer the money be spent on manpower and equipment.
The San Diego fence, tilted 45 degrees at the top to deter climbers, starts at the coastline and stretches 14 miles inland. Construction began in 1996, and there are still five miles to go.
Until the mid-1990s, illegal immigrants had crossed in droves. They would slip across the border and huddle on U.S. soil as the handful of Border Patrol agents assigned to the area watched from a distance. When night fell, they ran for it.
"It was a never-ending battle, and we were losing very badly," said Don McDermott, a Border Patrol supervisor who worked the area in the 1980s.
The nine miles of fencing completed so far have had a dramatic impact, along with more manpower and stadium lighting. Arrests are way down in San Diego, but traffic shifted to Arizona deserts.
Those people who do make it across are increasingly desperate. More immigrants are attempting to swim across the border or crawl through crude tunnels, said Raleigh Leonard, supervisor of the Border Patrol's Imperial Beach station.
The final five miles of fencing in San Diego will cover some of the most rugged terrain and most sensitive habitats on the border. For example, to fill an area called "Smuggler's Gulch," crews are expected to move nearly 3 million tons of dirt - enough to fill about 100,000 giant dump trucks.
Border Patrol officials say they need a fence in the gulch because its urban surroundings give agents limited time to catch people before they melt into the local population.
But environmentalists worry that shifting dirt will spill north into a federally protected estuary, disrupting a key stopover for more than 370 species of migratory and native birds.
A 2005 law giving the federal government authority to waive all rules prohibiting fence construction prompted a judge to dismiss a legal challenge to the San Diego fence. The law should help smooth the way elsewhere along the border, too.
Homeland Security spokesman Brad Benson said the agency wants to be a good environmental steward and will favor a "virtual fence" of sensors, radar and cameras in remote, environmentally sensitive areas and on tribal lands.
The government believes it can finish the 370 miles of fence on time and hopes to avoid the kind of pitfalls that delayed work in San Diego, Benson said. He said Congress has appropriated enough money - $1 billion for fencing and other infrastructure - to complete the project and that, unlike San Diego, the terrain will not be such a hindrance.
"Most of what we'll build is out in flat desert, and it's not that hard to do," he said.
Within the next few weeks, Benson said, the agency will put final touches on plans to complete the 14-mile San Diego fence and then solicit construction bids. Homeland Security also began a series of public meetings this week along the border to discuss the agency's plans to extend the fence to 370 miles.
Shirk, of the University of San Diego's Trans-Border Institute, remains skeptical: "It's a really, really big project that won't go so quickly."
“We must push back and push back hard”... “Remember how we won in the 1980. We stuck to our conservative principles.”
By electing the best border defender in the country, Duncan Hunter.
Add to that a few PV cells or windmills to electrify the fence and it might actually work.
370 species of birds?
This is crapola.
There are maybe 150 species of birds—including common birds like mallards—that would be affected by sedimentation of the estuary.
I hate it when hippies exaggerate to try to prove a point. Just makes them sound like flakes... wait... every time they open their mouths they sound like flakes.
Geeeezzzzzzz...the Chinese progressed better than these clowns"
Homeland Security is just too busy helping terrorists get Amnesty.
We all know GW has no enemies and the Dem party is always willing to lend him a hand to get things done. That's how we all know he can close off the border all by himself with no problems at all. Heck..any man who can cause a huricane to hit poor minorities could probably build the fence all by himself!/s
Thanks guy's. Ya'll had me worried for a bit that my kneepad stocks were going to fail me. I can rest easy for a couple more days it seems.
Hey earthdweller, up here on the surface, especially here in the good ole USofA, the President is tasked by Law, and forced to swear in affirmation that HE will enforce the Law's of this land, not Congress. Thanks for playing. Blackbird.
I'm sure you will volunteer to be on the front line./s
Considering I swore much the same oath as your ummmm Chief Law Enforcer, yes I would in a hearbeat. Go stick your head back under the desk, my kneepad stocks need your support. Blackbird.
Not yet, but soon - when the NAU becomes final.
When you come to shop and visit, naive me thought you were supposed to cross at an official boarder crossing. Are we to be at all concerned about infuriating criminals? I would think that would be cause for celebration and escalation of the fence across the entire border.
ping
If Americans HADN'T put pressure on the globalist open borders lover Bush (and his cronies), THERE WOULD BE NO FENCE AT ALL.
All roads from Mexico should end at the Crawford Ranch in Texas, where the "family values" and "hard workers" will be fully appreciated.
Build the damn fence all the way; and then you might explain where the money is actually going like that unbelievable cigar tax as well as the cigarette tax. It sure ain’t the children.
In fact, I think it’s time the American people as whole ought to do an audit of their own. Demand to see an accounting of where the money is actually going. We want proof.
That's the truth, but we must not take our eyes off of them because they are evil. They will sneak amnesty through by any means possible, and they will NEVER build a fence.
All roads from Mexico should end at the Crawford Ranch in Texas, where the "family values" and "hard workers" will be fully appreciated.
I feel the exact same way. Since he loves them so much, let's dump 'em on his land. LOL I'm afraid my compassion is all used up! I have NONE for illegals. Less for traitors. I'd like to string them all up.
Call me when you get your army together for that there civil war. LMAO.
Uh, sounds to me like the fence being built in this article is being built by the Bush administration. So what am I missing?
Oh come on, we all know that Congress has a lot of power. They can refuse to fund the President's efforts for one thing. They can throw up laws that can hinder if not stop his efforts.
I know that Bush isn't tough on illegal immigrants. But who has been? Certainly Reagan wasn't - he granted them amnesty.
It's not like no enforcement is going on. The fence is being worked on, as per this article. I've read numerous articles of businesses being busted for employing illegals.
Is it enough? Not in my opinion. But it's not like Bush isn't doing anything. (And it's not like he is the worst of all Presidents at enforcing the immigration laws. None of them have done so for quite some time.)
just making a little joke about the big joke.
I’ve quit taking seriously anything this administration does about illegal immigration and/or the borders...
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