Thread: Tx - Homeland Security offers Brownsville compromise

Homeland Security offers Brownsville compromise
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN
Feb. 6, 2009, 8:21PM
McALLEN, Texas — The Department of Homeland Security has offered a compromise to Brownsville that would erect a temporary border fence in its downtown until a planned riverwalk project moves ahead with a permanent combined levee-border wall, the city said Friday.

If the proposal, the product of more than a year of negotiations, is approved, it would be a notable thaw in the government's deadlock with a city that has presented some of the fiercest opposition to the border fence.

Brownsville Mayor Pay Ahumada once called the government's short-lived proposal to offer property owners money for access to survey their land for the fence "blood money." And when U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Republican from Colorado, was booed at a border fence discussion in the city, he snapped back that if people in Brownsville oppose the fence, they should build it around the north side of the border city — in effect, leaving the city on the Mexican side of the fence.

The city commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing and vote Thursday on the proposal that has been months in the making.

Ahumada, who was traveling in Mexico Friday and did not immediately return a call to his cell phone, opposed a similar compromise proposal in July.

The city commission voted to table the offer and it was never taken up again. But Ahumada said at the time he did not want a fence under any circumstances.

Peter Goodman, Brownsville's Historic Downtown District director, said the proposal has improved for the city since last summer, but he believes the mayor remains opposed.

"It's my understanding that he still feels the same way," Goodman said.

After hours calls to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is the part of Homeland Security overseeing the border fence project, were not immediately returned Friday.

Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos has pushed for months for a compromise similar to one Hidalgo County reached with DHS last year to combine a border barrier with needed levee improvements. While this proposal only covers a couple short stretches of the planned fence in the county, he said it would be positive.

"If they can work it out, the commission agrees and DHS follows through, it is a good compromise for the city," Cascos said. On a recent trip to Washington, D.C., Cascos said he asked Customs and Border Protection officials if the new administration had signaled any willingness to postpone or stop the border fence and the answer was no.

Cascos said two city commissioners he spoke with Friday were in support of the proposal.

Rather than build an 18-foot fence above the banks of the Rio Grande where downtown runs into the river, the government would install a temporary, but permanent-looking wrought-iron style fence, Goodman said.

That fence would stay in place for an unlimited period until the city installed a concrete wall into the river side of the levee that would provide flood protection and be an imposing obstacle for illegal immigrants and smugglers.

The proposal, which was just finalized this week, also includes temporary fencing that would save the city's Hope Park and allow for a planned future bypass road called the East Loop. Once the temporary fence was removed — at government expense — and the levee barrier built, the land under the temporary fence would revert to the city, Goodman said.

"If we reject the offer, they put in a permanent fence," Goodman said. "They don't need us."

"You can't have a riverwalk with an 18-foot fence running down the middle of it," he said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6251029.html

Brownsville border fence compromise on hold
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February 12, 2009 - 8:49 PM
BY EMMA PEREZ-TREVIÑO
The Brownsville Herald

BROWNSVILLE - The City Commission tabled action Thursday on an agreement regarding the construction of a border fence with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, announcing that the proposal would be re-evaluated.

Just minutes before the start of the scheduled public hearing, Commissioner Anthony Troiani said that new DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano's staff indicated that the proposal would be re-evaluated.

"We are in a position to re-evaluate the situation," Troiani said at the onset of the session that drew a standing room only crowd in commission chambers at City Hall.

Troiani said that Napolitano's staff had not been aware that the federal negotiating team had given the city an ultimatum or a deadline for approval of the agreement and had not known of Thursday's meeting in Brownsville.

Commissioner Ricardo Longoria said that city officials hope to meet with Napolitano later this month or in mid-March.

Troiani pointed to the efforts of commissioners, city staff and U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, while Mayor Pat M. Ahumada Jr. said, "This didn't just happen." Instead, the mayor pointed to the efforts of the Texas Border Coalition and No Border Wall groups.

Discussions between the mayor and commissioners were contentious as usual, with commissioners noting that they are not the ones who are divided.

Ahumada, on the other hand, felt that Commissioner Charlie Atkinson should not have taken part in the deliberations due to a potential conflict of interest because Atkinson is a federal officer.

Some commissioners also told Ahumada that they fear going to Mexico because he has said in Mexico that commissioners are in favor of the border wall.

Residents urged the mayor and commissioners to put differences aside, encouraging communication and unity.

"We need you all to unite," Erasmo Castro said. "We need something that is substantial, something that is clear, that is transparent. We need to be informed. That is all we ask," Castro added.

Jay Johnson-Castro, who has protested the wall for years throughout the border and has walked more than 700 miles in protest, urged the commission to put their political differences aside.

"Join with ‘We the people' and say no to this," Johnson-Castro emphasized. "Don't be divided on this. Stand with us. This is ground zero in Texas," he said, telling commissioners and the mayor to be statesmen and not politicians.

Judy Vera with Valley Interfaith also pointed out to The Brownsville Herald that the organization obtained many signatures opposing the border wall, which have been presented to the commission. "We really touched a lot of people," Vera said.

Dennis Sanchez, who represents two landowners near the city's property between the Gateway International Bridge and the B&M International Bridge, told the commission that neither the federal government nor the city consulted with his clients.

"Now is the opportunity," Sanchez said, noting that it is great news that the city will actually have the opportunity to meet with federal officials in Washington, D.C. He also told the commission that it needs to be united.

Sanchez said: "Look at this as a business deal and try to make the best deal you can."

http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/b ... _city.html

City sits on border fence
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February 12, 2009 - 6:27 PM
By Emma Perez-Trevino, The Brownsville Herald

The City Commission tabled action Thursday on an agreement regarding the construction of a border fence with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, announcing that the proposal would be re-evaluated by the federal government.

Just minutes before the start of the scheduled public hearing, Commissioner Anthony Troiani said that new DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano's staff indicated that the proposal would be re-evaluated.

"We are in a position to re-evaluate the situation," Troiani said at the onset of the session that drew a standing room only crowd in commission chambers at City Hall.

Troiani said that Napolitano's staff had not been aware that the federal negotiating team had given the city an ultimatum or a deadline for approval of the agreement and had not known of Thursday's meeting in Brownsville.

Commissioner Ricardo Longoria said that city officials hope to meet with Napolitano later this month or in mid-March.

Troiani pointed to the efforts of commissioners, city staff and U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, while Mayor Pat M. Ahumada Jr. said, "This didn't just happen." Instead, the mayor pointed to the efforts of the Texas Border Coalition and No Border Wall groups.

Discussions between the mayor and commissioners were contentious as usual, with commissioners noting that they are not the ones who are divided.

Ahumada, on the other hand, felt that Commissioner Charlie Atkinson should not have taken part in the deliberations due to a potential conflict of interest because Atkinson is a federal officer.

Some commissioners also told Ahumada that they fear going to Mexico because he has said in Mexico that commissioners are in favor of the border wall.

Residents urged the mayor and commissioners to put differences aside, encouraging communication and unity.

"We need you all to unite," Erasmo Castro said. "We need something that is substantial, something that is clear, that is transparent. We need to be informed. That is all we ask," Castro added.

Jay Johnson-Castro, who has protested the wall for years throughout the border and has walked more than 700 miles in protest, urged the commission to put their political differences aside.

"Join with ‘We the people' and say no to this," Johnson-Castro emphasized. "Don't be divided on this. Stand with us. This is ground zero in Texas," he said, telling commissioners and the mayor to be statesmen and not politicians.

Judy Vera with Valley Interfaith also pointed out to The Brownsville Herald that the organization obtained many signatures opposing the border wall, which have been presented to the commission. "We really touched a lot of people," Vera said.

Dennis Sanchez, who represents two landowners near the city's property between the Gateway International Bridge and the B&M International Bridge, told the commission that neither the federal government nor the city consulted with his clients.

"Now is the opportunity," Sanchez said, noting that it is great news that the city will actually have the opportunity to meet with federal officials in Washington, D.C. He also told the commission that it needs to be united.

Sanchez said: "Look at this as a business deal and try to make the best deal you can."

eperez-trevino@brownsvilleherald.com
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/n ... staff.html

Garcia to speak on fence compromise
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February 12, 2009 - 9:50 PM
By Kevin Sieff, The Brownsville Herald

UTB-TSC President Juliet V. Garcia on Friday will speak at length about the border fence and the university's compromise with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

For nearly a year, the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College was embroiled in a legal battle with DHS. The agency initially planned to construct a barrier that would have bisected the campus.

At the end of July, the university reached a compromise with the federal government, agreeing to enhance an existing fence instead of erecting a new one through the campus.

Garcia will speak from 9-10 a.m. on campus in the Science, Engineering and Technology Building Lecture Hall, or SET-B. Her presentation will also include a question and answer session.

On Saturday, Garcia, university faculty members and students will plant seeds at the foot of the university's "campus fence"- the product of the DHS compromise. School officials have called the event, Planting Hope for our Democracy, "a symbolic end to the (university's) border protection issue."

The event will take place 9-10 a.m. behind Scorpion Field. Attendees will have the opportunity to plant vines and wildflowers that will eventually cover the fence.
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/u ... arcia.html

Brownsville mayor asking Mexico to intervene in border fence issue
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February 12, 2009 - 12:11 PM
By EMMA PEREZ TREVINO/The Brownsville Herald

Mayor Pat H. Ahumada Jr. plans to ask the Mexican government to intervene in the border fence issue to ensure that the treaty between the United States and Mexico regarding the unfettered flow of the Rio Grande would not be affected by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's proposal.

Ahumada unveiled his proposal this morning, just hours before the start of the 6 p.m. public hearing at City Hall regarding the proposed agreement that city attorneys and DHS have struck. The City Commission is slated to take action after the public hearing.

Ahumada contends that the construction of the fence could affect the flow of the river in the Brownsville area and would violate the treaty between the two governments.

Noting the clear division among the commission, Ahumada also urged fellow commissioners not to kneel at DHS' feet, but instead to unify in the fight against the fence and to support, rather than sabotage the efforts of the Texas Border Coalition.

The mayor also urged the commission to join him in plans to seek an injunction against DHS to stop the fence here.
http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/m ... issue.html