[entropy12]

Plz explain why we need any Mexican land if the wall is entirely on US side of the border. Wall can be built entirely from one side since it is basically installing pre-fabricated sections.

[DoodleDawg]

Plz explain why we need any Mexican land if the wall is entirely on US side of the border. Wall can be built entirely from one side since it is basically installing pre-fabricated sections.

I'm talking U.S. land. The wall is not going to be built in the middle of the Rio Grande or not exactly on the border in some cases. It will be built out of the river away from the flood plain. On land it could be built some distance away from the border if the topography required it. All land between the wall and the Mexico border will be unusable to the owner and would have to be purchased.

[BeauBo]

"explain why we need any Mexican land if the wall is entirely on US side of the border."

It is not for Mexican land, but for US land that is cut off by the barrier.

Because of binding treaty with Mexico, any construction that could effect flooding must be approved by the International Boundary and Water Commission. The net result is that the barrier has to mostly run along the existing flood control levees - which can be over a mile from the river in some places.

Folks on the South side of the wall further East near Brownsville/Matamoros (where Bush built barrier) have had trouble with the police, fire department or ambulances responding in an emergency. Land values drop, and business suffers.

This map shows the area East of McAllen/Reynosa. You can see the pink shaded area that is South of the levee, but North of the river. That is going to be on the wrong side of the barrier, due to construction requirements of the hydrology there - they are not far from the Gulf of Mexico, and are periodically hit with hurricanes.