Thread: Higher, tougher border fence sought for EP

Higher, tougher border fence sought for EP
By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 10/02/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT

Some areas of the border fence along West Paisano are in need of repair or replacement. (Rudy Gutierrez / El Paso Times)Chertoff: Migrants do more harm than fence
The federal government wants to replace some of El Paso's border fence with a higher and sturdier barrier to stop undocumented immigrants and protect Border Patrol agents from rock throwers, Homeland Security officials said.

The proposal would replace 3.59 miles of fence from the Paso del Norte Bridge to the New Mexico state line. Construction could start as early as this month, according to an environmental study done by the Department of Homeland Security in August.

The new fence would be 15 feet high and cut-resistant, but still let water and small animals through. It would replace the current 8-foot-tall chainlink fence on the south

A view of the border fences between the Stanton Street bridge and the Paso del Norte Bridge in Downtown El Paso. A proposal calls for replacement of 3.59 miles of fence from El Paso to the New Mexico state line. (Rudy Gutierrez / El Paso Times)levee of the American Canal, just north of the river.
El Paso Border Patrol Chief Victor Manjarrez declined to comment on the replacement project but said previously that he approved of fences in urban settings because they slow down smugglers and give his agents more time to react once the fence is breached.

"In urban areas, an agent has seconds to minutes before we lose them (migrants) in the city," he said in a previous interview.

The existing fence is easily cut and needs daily repairs, Border Patrol officials said. It also makes a poor barrier for attackers lobbing rocks at agents. Border Patrol statistics show there were more than 39 rock attacks in the El Paso sector this year, with some warranting hospitalization.

But the report also said a more secure fence could just shift the smuggling activity to less secure areas.
The fence replacement may not draw the same level of criticism than would a brand new fence or an opaque wall.

"I can understand the need for a fence, not a wall but a fence," Ray Mancera, a board member of LULAC, said. LULAC supported "Hands Across the Rio," an event in August during which activists and elected officials held hands on the Paso del Norte Bridge and other border crossings to

"But if they put barbed wire on top, I feel like I am inside a prison yard," Mancera said.

The El Paso fence segment is part of 225 miles of fencing to be built before December 2008 and which includes stretches in the Rio Grande Valley, Del Rio, Texas, the Marfa sector, San Diego and El Centro, Calif. The government released maps of these projects last week that can be viewed at www.borderfencenepa.com.

Bids have also started for adesign-build contract to construct three miles of fencing in Santa Teresa, said Brad Benson, a DHS spokesman. That fence would be two segments, one stretching for one mile and the other for two miles.

Benson said there were no price tags for the projects but that the agency estimated

A metal sign on this portion of the fence says it is U.S. Government Structure. it would spend $3 million per mile of fence.
Not all felt it would be money well-spent.

"I wish they were not so fascinated with fences. It seems like a waste of money," West-Central city Rep. Susie Byrd said. "They could put more officers on the (international) bridge where we have such long lines and relieve some of the tension on our border."

The study on the fence replacement project in El Paso found no environmental or esthetic impact to the project.

New fence
The proposed replacement fence would be:

At least 15 feet high and anchored three to six feet underground.

Capable of withstanding cutting and extreme desert climate.

Semi-transparent.

Able to minimize impact on small animal movements.

Won't impede the flow of water.
Source: Department of Homeland Security.



Border fencing
Here's a breakdown in fence-building progress:

In place before 2006: 75 miles.

Built in fiscal year 2007: 70 miles, including 60 miles in Arizona, seven miles in California and three miles in Columbus.

To be completed by the end of 2008: 225 miles.

Total: 370 miles.
Source: Department of Homeland Security.



Make plans

What: Border Security Council.

When:"8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Where:"City Hall.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_7056835

"I wish they were not so fascinated with fences. It seems like a waste of money," West-Central city Rep. Susie Byrd said. "They could put more officers on the (international) bridge where we have such long lines and relieve some of the tension on our border."

It's obvious that some of our elected representatives still don't get it! What would placing more officers on the legal entry points do to stop the illegals from crossing where there are no checkpoints?

4 miles ain't squat. Easy enough to drive or walk around.

Seriously, you can walk a mile in 18 minutes if you are in poor shape and about 11 minutes if you are in tip top shape. Big woop! An hour detour.

Who are these people fooling?

Dixie

Originally Posted by jean

"But if they put barbed wire on top, I feel like I am inside a prison yard," Mancera said.

He must be looking at it from the Mexican side. All the fences and walls I saw in Mexico had barbed wire or broken glass embedded on top. Looking at it from the American side, I would say I am glad to be outside the prison!

Originally Posted by Populist

American Patrol has done a good job tracking the fence and rebutting Chertoff's claims:

http://www.americanpatrol.com/07-FEATUR ... ature.html

"Secretary Chertoff claims to have completed 70 miles of new pedestrian fencing along the border in California, Arizona and New Mexico. This claim is disputed by American Border Patrol who reports that only about 55 miles of new fencing has been completed and of that, 33 miles is in a part of the desert that is nearly impassible on foot. 'We have documented hundreds of tire tracks leading from Mexico into the Goldwater Bombing Range, but no one in his right mind would try to walk across that stretch of desert,' said Glenn Spencer of ABP. Temperatures in this part of the desert often reach 115 degrees F."