Posted on 11/05/2007 3:52:47 PM PST by SandRat
(This is the second in a three-part series on the border fence.)
BISBEE — Bill Odle and his wife, Ellen Logue, moved to their home on Border Road near Palominas seven years ago. They liked the remoteness of the site, the abundance of wildlife, the quiet atmosphere and the beautiful terrain.
They decided to place a conservation easement on their 50 acres of land, which is located next to the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.
Now they are concerned a federal fence being constructed nearby along the border with Mexico will disrupt the view and prevent wildlife from migrating north and south. They are also concerned the fence will not stop illegal border crossers.
“A major concern for me is this stops all wildlife from getting across,” Odle said, referring to the fence. “Wildlife, except for birds, can’t get across this.”
He has seen rabbits, roadrunners and a porcupine unsuccessfully attempting to get around the fence.
Odle noted the San Pedro is one of the last free-flowing rivers in the Southwestern United States.
“It’s a huge draw for wildlife,” he said.
Coyotes, deer, porcupine, rabbits and bobcats are common. Odle said there have even been sightings of jaguar and mountain lion.
“I’m not saying this is stopping all wildlife,” he said, “but it is sure stopping them from crossing the border.”
Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit to block construction of a border fence and barrier through the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area until an appropriate assessment could be conducted regarding the impact on wildlife and protected federal public lands.
U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle halted the work on Oct. 10. But, on Oct. 22, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff used his power to waive a number of laws in order to resume the construction. On Thursday, the two conservation organizations filed a suit saying Congress violated the Constitution by giving Chertoff the authority to ignore the laws.
On Oct. 1, Chertoff said the construction of the fence would be beneficial for the environment because it would help prevent the effects of people who cross into the United States from Mexico.
“Illegal migrants really degrade the environment. I’ve seen pictures of human waste, garbage, discarded bottles and other human artifacts in pristine areas,” Chertoff told The Associated Press. “And believe me, that is the worst thing you can do to the environment.”
Carmen Mercer, vice president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, feels it is unacceptable to put “creatures crawling through the desert ahead of the welfare of human beings.
“Fussing about endangered lizard habitat does not in fact trump the feds’ obligation to address the dire human cost to American men, women and children of our broken borders,” she said in an Oct. 19 news release. “Nor does it save one single truly endangered alien woman, girl or boy being illegally trafficked by the death-dealing cartels for sex, pornography or sweatshop servitude.”
But wildlife is not the only thing that will be impacted by the building of the fence.
Jennifer Allen, executive director of Border Action Network, said the wall will cause people to get more desperate in their attempts to enter the country. But, she added, it won’t decrease the number of people immigrating illegally.
“People will go to further extremes, further risking their lives. So, we would anticipate a higher number of deaths in the border region as a result of wall construction,” she said.
Drug smugglers will be forced to become more organized and armed as the border gets more difficult to cross, she added.
She said building the wall is costing taxpayers billions of dollars, but it is not solving the problem.
“This is such a D.C. or Midwest response to a failing immigration policy that does not take into account the reality of border communities,” she said.
Border communities are interdependent on one another, Allen said. Construction of the wall sends a “hostile message” to the communities and will affect their economies.
According to Mercer, the fact the fence would hurt business and reduce commerce in border towns means that fences do work.
Jose “Chovy” Lorenzo Villegas Vasquez, the mayor of Naco, Sonora, said he would like to see more unity between Mexico and the United States.
“For me, it is very sad they are raising this wall,” he said. “The wall creates a greater distance between the United States and Mexico.”
The Mexicans who have illegally entered the United States are not causing harm or worsening the country, he said. Rather, they came in search of the American dream and they have a strong desire to work.
He said a person working in an enterprise in Mexico earns about $60 per week. That same person working in the United States would earn that same amount of money in one day.
He acknowledged the importance of fighting against drug smuggling. But he noted the fence will not only stop narcotic traffic but also will prevent all Mexicans from passing.
The wall will have more of a negative impact on the United States than on Mexico, he said. If the Mexicans are unable to cross illegally, then it will affect the economy.
“Who will do the work that nobody wants to do in the United States?” he said.
Odle said he opposes illegal immigration, although he acknowledges that work done by illegal immigrants is “definitely” helping the U.S. economy.
“The only way to stop people from coming up here is drying up the well. By that I mean, stop hiring people that are not supposed to be here and stop giving them benefits,” he said.
The government has “turned a blind eye” on the immigration issue because big corporations want cheap labor, Odle said. Employers should be penalized for hiring undocumented workers.
“We do have the wherewithal to establish it so if folks want to come to work and we have a need for them, we should be able to control it and regulate it to make sure people are paid a fair wage and not treated badly,” he said.
Odle said the fence that is under construction near his property consists of steel mesh screens held up by posts that are concreted into the ground.
The concrete is intended to make it difficult to dig under the fence. The screens have narrow holes that are supposed to prevent people from climbing it. But, he said, it is possible to create handles by placing screwdrivers in the screen. Or, someone could simply bring a ladder and easily cross it.
“The fence has not stopped anybody from coming over. They climb it,” he said, adding he has not seen people climbing the fence, but he has seen evidence of people having crossed.
The fence gives a false sense of security, Odle added. It may look impressive but a motivated person could go over it.
“I always tell people you can tell this is a federal project. It cost way too much, it is ugly, and it doesn’t work,” he said.
Odle would rather see the government use a different method to fence the border. He said a simple barbed wire fence would stop livestock from crossing but still allow wildlife to migrate. And vehicle barriers installed along the border would stop vehicles that are crossing with illegal drugs or people.
He recognizes the need for national security. But the fence is not making the country any more secure. And, he said, it is also harmful to wildlife that can’t cross it.
“You are putting up a wall that is stopping these critters from freely going back and forth. Who knows what the final repercussions are?”
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Herald/Review reporter Jonathon Shacat is reporting on the discussion and some issues involved in building a border fence, as is being done in Cochise County.
• Sunday: Building a fence and the arguments for and against it.
• Today: Some of the possibly good and bad impacts from building a border fence.
• Tuesday: Is a fence along the border the right solution? Groups discuss that topic.
Threre, that's more like it.
They’re imagining chain-link or a tall concrete wall.
Imagine this: all those realistic looking rock structures they use at zoos to keep the animals in and the people out.
So along the border, we build fences that cannot be scaled but that look like natural rock formations...with turrets every 1000 yards.
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