Thread: Fence protesters paddle down, link hands across the Rio Gran

Fence protesters paddle down, link hands across, the Rio Grande

(7/14/07 - ROMA, TX) - From the Roma bluffs, a rare high point along the Rio Grande's southernmost stretch, about 60 people could be seen Saturday morning paddling kayaks and canoes in a symbolic protest of the border fence.

After their trip down the river, the paddlers gathered with others in an amphitheater to speak out against what they say is an ineffectual barrier that will destroy the impoverished region's burgeoning bird-watching industry. They also say that fence will be the death knell for endangered wildcats, cut farmers off from water, harm cross-border commerce and fail to solve the immigration problem.

The protesters then held hands across the middle of the bridge to Miguel Aleman, Mexico, to symbolize the region's cultural and economic ties with Mexico.

They said it was the first of what will be a series of protests against the wall, including another one Saturday evening about 70 miles south in Brownsville.

"It's a Stone Age answer to a 21st century problem," said John Martin, a 64-year-old retired investment broker from Edinburg. "Why spend $3.5 million a mile to tear out habitat we spent millions of dollars restoring?"

Nancy Brown, a spokeswoman for a U.S. Fish and Wildlife refuge that could see a fence cutting through it, said Roma was chosen because it is the epicenter of a fence debate that is raging in deep South Texas.

Bird watchers from around the world know it as a spot to glimpse four birds seen only in Starr and neighboring Zapata County -- the white-collared seedeater, red-billed pigeon, Audubon's oriole and black-throated sparrow.

Roma's new birding center, just a block from the river, is the small city's foray into what has become a $125 million industry.

It's here that National Guard members were spotted in April clearing brush for what residents learned was to be the first leg of construction for a border fence in the Rio Grande Valley. Riverfront landowners said Border Patrol agents told them the fence would go two and a half miles on either side of international bridges, including the bridge to Miguel Aleman, just east of the bluffs.

Angry local politicians rallied their federal representatives, who got assurances from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that only preliminary surveying was under way, and that they would be consulted before any barriers went up.

But early in May, local leaders intercepted a map of about 153 miles of Texas fencing they hadn't been consulted on.

Bush has since said he would veto a bill that required officials to solicit input from communities about fencing. White House officials said the government had already conducted extensive outreach and that the mandate would be an impediment to securing the border.

The fence is already law. Under the bill Bush signed last year, 700 miles of fencing is already slated for the U.S.-Mexican border, of which Homeland Security has said will include at least 370 miles of physical fence supplemented by "virtual" barrier of sensors, mobile towers with cameras, agents and other technology.

Homeland Security officials say the fence is needed in urban areas where smugglers and illegal immigrants can quickly fade into the surroundings.

Border Patrol spokesman Mike Friel said construction this fiscal year would be in California, Arizona, and New Mexico, and that decisions had not yet been made regarding the construction or location of the Texas fence. He said Homeland Security was continuing to seek local input.

"I think our message is that we want to gain effective control of the border and also facilitate legitimate travel and trade," he said. "Our commitment is to ensuring that we meet those twin goals."

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?secti ... 7&ft=print

"It's a Stone Age answer to a 21st century problem," said John Martin, a 64-year-old retired investment broker from Edinburg. "Why spend $3.5 million a mile to tear out habitat we spent millions of dollars restoring?"


I had to laugh at this.. how shortsighted..

Okay, lets protect that land we paid 3.5 million on , yet spend TENS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year in our ignorance by allowing NO security!
hahaha

people like these should be handed their azzes.... so ignorant.

You would think they would say "wow, all these illgals are costing taxpayers billions of dollars. Schools are rundown and overrun. Our language is dissappearing. Hospitals are closing.... and our citizens are paying for it all...."... instead, they ignore all that...

SO absolutely ignorant.

After their trip down the river, the paddlers gathered with others in an amphitheater to speak out against what they say is an ineffectual barrier that will destroy the impoverished region's burgeoning bird-watching industry.

Birds are affected by fences or walls (this article couldn't decide which it was)?

And heaven forbid that national security get in the way of these people floating down a river.

BrightNail wrote:

people like these should be handed their azzes.... so ignorant.

You can't do that, he's got his head up it.

Originally Posted by BrightNail

people like these should be handed their azzes.... so ignorant.

You would think they would say "wow, all these illgals are costing taxpayers billions of dollars. Schools are rundown and overrun. Our language is dissappearing. Hospitals are closing.... and our citizens are paying for it all...."... instead, they ignore all that...

SO absolutely ignorant.

That's what happens to people who kayak without wearing a helmet.

After their trip down the river, the paddlers gathered with others in an amphitheater to speak out against what they say is an ineffectual barrier that will destroy the impoverished region's burgeoning bird-watching industry. They also say that fence will be the death knell for endangered wildcats, cut farmers off from water, harm cross-border commerce and fail to solve the immigration problem.

All dumbass reasons, grasping at straws BS!!!! If we have no country who cares about the bird-watching OH PLEASE!? Mind-boggling

How does he think the invaders affect the habitat of birds and other wildlife?

Bird watchers from around the world know it as a spot to glimpse four birds seen only in Starr and neighboring Zapata County -- the white-collared seedeater, red-billed pigeon, Audubon's oriole and black-throated sparrow.

You would think these birds were flightless. Sorry folks, these aren't Dodo birds and this isn't the islands of Mauritius (home of the now extinct Dodo bird).

I can understand the NIMBY attitude from the locals, however, they need to understand the necessity and importance of securing our border with Mexico!

This is the funniest cleverist (is that a word?) thread I've read in awhile.

I guess they don't want to mention the mountains of garbage left behind on U.S. soil by illegals sneaking into the country, huh?