Posted on 11/09/2007 3:31:11 AM PST by Virginia Ridgerunner
GRANJENO, Texas (AP) - Founded 240 years ago, this sleepy Texas town along the Rio Grande has outlasted the Spanish, then the Mexicans and then the short-lived independent Republic of Texas. But it may not survive the U.S. government's effort to secure the Mexican border with a steel fence.
A map obtained by The Associated Press shows that the double- or triple-layer fence may be built as much as two miles from the river on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande, leaving parts of Granjeno and other nearby communities in a potential no-man's-land between the barrier and the water's edge.
Based on the map and what the residents have been told, the fence could run straight through houses and backyards. Some fear it could also cut farmers off from prime farmland close to the water.
(snip)
"We want to be safe, but it's just that this is not a good plan," said Cecilia Benavides, whose riverfront land in Roma, about 50 miles upriver from Granjeno, was granted to the family by the Spanish in "It gives Mexico the river and everything that's behind that wall. It doesn't make any sense to me."
(snip)
"Are we going to lose prime farmland because they are going to build a structure that's not going to work?" Salinas asked. "You're moving the border, basically two miles. You're giving it up to Mexico, and the U.S.-Mexico treaties say you are not supposed to do that."
Homeland Security documents on a department Web site say that "in some cases, secure gates will be constructed to allow land owners access to their private property near the Rio Grande." But the documents offer few details.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Too bad. Keep building.
Since there is no question about the Government being able to take over land from landowners, I would rather it be condemned to build a border wall instead of a highway or lake.
I don’t care if it cuts through whatever, build the damn fence.
As long as it's not your backyard or farm being f'ed up, right?
Ceding 2 miles of territory and the Rio Grande to Mexico is criminal. Build the wall, yes, but build it on the freakin border.
But isn't the border the middle of the river?
“Homeland Security documents on a department Web site say that “in some cases, secure gates will be constructed to allow land owners access to their private property near the Rio Grande.” But the documents offer few details.”
Some people will be leaving the gates open you know. Why the buffer zone?
“But officials say that putting the fence right up against the river could interfere with its flow during a flood and change its course, illegally altering the border”
Looks like environmentalists at work to me, getting a two-fer here by destroying public property and discrediting border control efforts.
“They invade our space, and we fall back. They assimilate countless worlds, and we fall back. Not again. Not this time. The line must be drawn here! This far, no farther! And I will make them pay for what they have done!” — Picard, to Lily
Maybe, but I don't see how a fence right along a river bank would work from purely engineering perspective. You need to be able to access it easily for repairs, maintenance, etc, and that requires access roads on both sides of the fence.
Your point is well taken. Giving up excess land makes no sense, and the line should be “hugged” as much as possible. But wherever the line is drawn, you’re always going to have a number of parties pissin’ and moanin’ about the unfairness of it all. Tough tamales. It happens all the time where highways or other public works projects cause forfeitures. But the politically charged nature of this project is going to amplify the caterwauling to the degree that one will think we are beheading their children or something. We must persevere and get this done. End of story.
Sarcastically its a shame the Berlin Wall couldn’t have been saved and reused at our southern border.
There must be a buffer zone or else it would be way too easy to have concealed tunnels in houses.
Good point.
...Or a shopping mall, marina, and business park in New London, CT that primarily benefits private developers rather than the public good.
Here’s a better idea: declare war on Mexico, take two miles of their river edge land, and build a wall THERE.
Thinking about it, declaring war on Mexico has great possibilities. Every illegal alien from Mexico could be declared an enemy combatant or an illegal combatant or an illegal enemy combatant.
No, it doesn't change ownership. You still own all the land on the other side of your fence. And it protects 98% of your land from the migrations onto your 2%.
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