Thread: Mexico demands removal of US barrier built on Mexican side o

Mexico demands removal of US barrier built on Mexican side of border

The Associated Press
Monday, June 25, 2007
MEXICO CITY: Mexico is demanding the United States immediately remove a seven-year-old vehicle barrier it built on the Mexican side of the two countries' border.

The Foreign Relations Department said Monday that it sent a diplomatic note to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City protesting the barrier, built by U.S. military personnel in 2000 west of the town of Palomas in Chihuahua state, across from New Mexico.

The U.S. acknowledges that the barrier encroaches into Mexican territory between one and six feet (0.3 to 1.8 meters) along a 1.5-mile (2.5-kilometer) stretch.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Michael Friel told The Associated Press that the 5-foot-tall (1.5-meter-tall) barrier was not intentionally erected in Mexico. He said an aerial survey conducted in March revealed that parts of the structure crossed over the border.

"The construction was based on what was understood to be the international boundary at the time," Friel said. The U.S. government plans to remove the barrier, and at the same time, erect a temporary one in its territory, he said.

The fence — built with hollow metal tubes filled with cement and planted a couple of feet (half a meter) apart — is designed to block vehicles carrying illegal migrants or drugs and also to keep cattle on the proper side of the border.

"Our country will continue insisting on the removal (of the fence) to be done as quickly as possible," the Foreign Relations Department said.

It did not say when Mexico noticed the fence on its territory or when the diplomatic note was sent.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/ ... arrier.php

We will remove OUR FENCE in Mexico

When they remove THEIR DRUG DEALERS AND ILLEGAL CITIZENS residing within America's boundaries.

Mexico is demanding the United States immediately remove a seven-year-old vehicle barrier it built on the Mexican side of the two countries' border.

AS SOON AS MEXICO REMOVES ALL OF THEIR STRAY CITIZENS FROM OUR SIDE OF THE BORDER.....WE WILL REMOVE THE OLD VEHICLE BARRIER

I am SURE BUSH or WHOMEVER will Capitulate ----

Why do we bow down to such a third world country. IN trade agreements, immigration, water.. etc.. we are always kissing their ass. Does someone in Mexico have a tape of Bush being screwed by a Donkey or something! Cause I just don't get it.

Why do we bow down to such a third world country.

One word...OIL!

demands smands

remove this mexico

This pathetic excuse for a country has bled the USA dry...and we stand here and take it. The politicians there are as ungrateful as it's citizens are here. I say cut off EVERY penny we give to this sewer called mexico and get this crap over with!!!

Then tell the illegal aliens here they get the same thing...not one penny-not for them or their anchors..not even emergency care. If they hadn't been in our country illegally in the first place, maybe that "emergency" would never have happened.

Perhaps Pres. Bush and our State Dept. are attempting to coddle Mexico, in an effort to stave off the starving Mexican poor from a change of government that would put Mexico in league with Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, a revolution that would create a 2060 mile U.S. border with a violently anti-American Marxist totalitarian state with ties to Iran through Venezuela.

Ever think of that? Would that (with 33 million illegal aliens in country) be worse than the status quo (with 33 million illegal aliens in country)?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19513246/

COLUMBUS, N.M. - A 1.5-mile barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border was designed to keep cars from illegally crossing into the United States. There's just one problem: It was accidentally built on Mexican soil. Now embarrassed border officials say the mistake could cost the federal government more than $3 million to fix.

The barrier was part of more than 15 miles of border fence built in 2000, stretching from the town of Columbus to an onion farm and cattle ranch.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman said the vertical metal tubes were sunk into the ground and filled with cement along what officials firmly believed was the border. But a routine aerial survey in March revealed that the barrier protrudes into Mexico by 1 to 6 feet.

James Johnson, whose onion farm is in the disputed area, said he thinks his forefathers may have started the confusion in the 19th century by placing a barbed-wire fence south of the border. No one discovered their error, and crews erecting the barrier may have used that fence as a guideline.

"It was a mistake made in the 1800s," Johnson said. "It is very difficult to make a straight line between two points in rugged and mountainous areas that are about two miles apart."

The Mexican government was notified and did what any landowner would do: They sent a note politely insisting that Mexico get its land back.

"Our country will continue insisting for the removal (of the fence) to be done as quickly as possible," the Foreign Relations Department said in a diplomatic missive to Washington.

'At the time'
When the barrier was built in 2000, the project was believed to cost about $500,000 a mile. Estimates to uproot and replace it range from $2.5 million to $3.5 million.

Michael Friel, the spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, said the barrier was "built on what was known to be the international boundary at the time." He acknowledged the method used was "less precise than it is today."

The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint Mexican-American group that administers the 2,000-mile border, said the border has never changed and is marked every few miles by tall concrete or metal markers.

Sally Spener, a commission spokeswoman in El Paso, said the agency is generally consulted for construction projects to ensure that treaties are followed. The commission is working with the Department of Homeland Security "to develop a standardized protocol" for building fences and barriers.

"We just want to make sure those things are clear now," Spener said.

'The fence is crooked'
New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman asked Customs and Border Protection officials to build a new fence on U.S. soil before the old one is torn down.

Bingaman said he was concerned about security issues in Las Chepas, the small Mexican village where most area residents live. New Mexico once sought permission to raze the community because it was known as a popular staging area for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.

Back at his farm, Johnson said he doesn't understand why the placement of the barriers has become an issue now since his family's fence went unquestioned for more than a century.

"The markers are in the right place, and the fence is crooked," Johnson said. "But for 120-plus years it was agreed upon that that fence was the border."

Well, it's obvious Mexico wants it's property back and rightly so! I say we throw in a bonus of one illegal immigrant returned for each pillar that we remove, and one more for each pillar we erect. I would imagine the savings in public services and law enforcement would easily offset the cost of moving the barrier within a year or so. Senator Reid and Senator Kennedy you have my permission to submit it to the floor for a vote!

I also know a great concrete contractor who could use the work so please contact him for a LEGITIMATE American bid!
See: http://www.thetimesnews.com/articles/ol ... _once.html