Thread: Border wall protester finishes 200-mile walk in Brownsville

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 88514.html


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HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Houston & Texas News

Oct. 26, 2006, 3:53AM



Border wall protester finishes 200-mile walk in Brownsville
With support from people along the way, he says he has accomplished his 15-day mission
By JAMES PINKERTON
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

BROWNSVILLE - It wasn't exactly a hero's welcome, but the mayor joined him in walking the final mile.

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Jay J. Johnson-Castro, 59, paced into this southernmost border town late Wednesday and finished his nearly 200-mile walk to protest Washington's controversial plan to add 700 miles of new fence to the most vulnerable spots along the U.S.-Mexico border.

''I feel like the mission is accomplished," he said. "We didn't have masses of crowds, but we did have people honking and waving all the way along."

Johnson-Castro, the owner of a bed-and-breakfast in Del Rio, set out on his walk Oct. 10 from the main square in Laredo. He ended it in Brownsville with Mayor Eddie Treviño escorting him into the palm-shaded Dean Porter Park shortly before 5 p.m. They were accompanied by Brownsville police and met by 30 enthusiastic supporters.

''He's become a symbol of the voices who are opposing this whole idea of a fence," Treviño said. ''His walk has worked to garner attention that this isn't wanted by the people of South Texas."

Johnson-Castro, tanned and visibly leaner, said the mostly Hispanic border residents were both insulted and offended by the proposed fence.

"Most people relate to it as a Berlin Wall," he said.

President Bush today is expected to sign a bill authorizing the fence, which could cost more than $6 billion.

Johnson-Castro called the fence a foolhardy measure and an ''act of aggression" against neighboring Mexico.

Mexican officials plan to send a resolution to the United Nations Human Rights Council, claiming that the planned fence will drive migrants into remote, dangerous areas where they are more likely to die crossing the border.

Johnson-Castro and his small entourage had originally planned to spend their nights camping along the road. However, their cause drew the support of immigration activists, Catholic Church members, business people and others who put them up in hotels.

As he approached Brownsville along U.S. Highway 281, Johnson-Castro waved to supporters who honked or stepped out from their homes along the Rio Grande.

''He has a good cause, we're just going to throw money away on a fence," said Dione Harris, 18, who stood at her mailbox after Johnson-Castro walked by.

''It's money we could use on other things — like helping the elderly."

james.pinkerton@chron.com


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HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Houston & Texas News
This article is: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 88514.html

A fence is a waste of time and money because it will only make business who sell fences, ladders and shovels richer.
What will really make a difference is if the laws on businesses hiring illegal are enforced. If there is no job, with out proper papers, they will not come without legal documents.
Simple go after the business will solve the problem.

The fence they put in at San Diego works pretty well. Mexico and all of these pro-illegals wouldn't be so upset about this fence if it was not effective.

There is no reason why we cannot do both enforcement of the law AND have a fence.

dyehard39 wrote:

A fence is a waste of time and money because it will only make business who sell fences, ladders and shovels richer.
What will really make a difference is if the laws on businesses hiring illegal are enforced. If there is no job, with out proper papers, they will not come without legal documents.
Simple go after the business will solve the problem.

I disagree, simply going after businesses will not completely solve the problem. Sure, enforcement of interior laws and tough employer sanctions are two of the key issues that need to be dealt with, but IMHO a fence is necessary too.

Additionally, have you forgotten about the drug trade and the potential terrorist that routinely cross our Southern border? What about those folks, going after employers of illegal immigrants is not going to help in those areas. Unfortunately our country consumes illegal drugs much like it does gas - in huge quanities. We are the reason the large drug trade survives in Mexico, without us drug trade profits enjoyed by the Mexican cartels would be reduced by over 75%. Much of the cartel money finds its way back into Mexico's economy - that is another reason Mexican officials have no desire to see the fence built. I hope no one is fooled into believing illegal immigration is the only reason Mexico doesn't want to see a fence along their Northern border.

Personally, I'd like to see a fence stretching from coast to coast along our Southern border. The use of shovels and ladders by illegals, drug runners, and terrorist will allow for easier detection by U.S. BP agents. A fence will also act as a funnel and will serve to free up more BP agents to patrol the unfenced sectors.

Picture, if you will, a rock placed in a stream. What happens when the water flow meets the resistance of the rock? Obviously the water is going to take the route that offers the least resistance, which is around the rock. Those whom wish to enter the U.S. illegally will take the route that offers the least resistance. The placement of a fence has effectively made more boots on the ground available to patrol those so-called areas of least resistance. In effect, we take a step forward on border security and those wishing to take advantage of the U.S. through illegally entry take a step backwards.

A fence will not solve the illegal entry problem on its own, but it is a positive step in the right direction. Assuming the 700-mile fence is built in its entirety, our government may then see the advantage of a fence and move to fence even more of the border.

noyoucannot wrote:

The fence they put in at San Diego works pretty well. Mexico and all of these pro-illegals wouldn't be so upset about this fence if it was not effective.

You make a very good point about the open border crowds feelings on the fence. Something they fear and complain about must be something good for our side!