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  1. #1
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    Judge stalls border fence at UT Brownsville

    http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 4bd80.html

    Judge stalls border fence at UT Brownsville

    12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, July 1, 2008
    Christopher Sherman, The Associated Press

    BROWNSVILLE – A federal judge ordered a Texas university and the government Monday to continue meeting in search of alternatives to building a border fence across campus.

    U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen said the government had not complied with his March order to work with the University of Texas at Brownsville to come up with a better plan than the one that puts more than a quarter of the school's acreage – including the golf course – behind the U.S.-Mexico border fence.

    Judge Hanen's order dealt the Department of Homeland Security a rare setback in its rush to meet a congressional deadline to have 670 miles of fencing built along the U.S.-Mexico border by the end of the year.

    In documents filed with the court before Monday's hearing, the government said it had concluded that the fence through the campus was the only viable alternative and indicated that it could file a condemnation lawsuit against the university as early as today.

    Judge Hanen told both sides to get the necessary expertise and authority in the same room to come up with a solution.

    "It's important enough for the security of the country and important enough to the integrity of the college to try to do this," Judge Hanen said.

    They are scheduled to report back to the judge by July 31.

    While Homeland Security has met isolated opposition at various points along the fence's route, the university and its two-year sister school Texas Southmost College may be its most challenging opponent. The university – with 17,000 students, projected to double by 2050 – argues that the fence would crush expansion plans and make a mockery of the university's mission to offer a binational education. The colleges are part of the nation's second-largest university system.

    During the hourlong hearing, Judge Hanen asked – and in some cases received answers to – questions that property owners in the path of the fence have been asking for months.

    "One of the problems this community faces is that the border fence isn't on the border," Judge Hanen said. Why couldn't the fence run closer to the Rio Grande rather than a mile north of it?

    Homeland Security is trying to follow the levee because the path is already clear and because boundary treaties with Mexico do not allow the placement of any barrier in the floodplain that could deflect floodwater toward Mexico, said Justice Department attorney David Hu.

    The land the golf course is on belongs to the International Boundary and Water Commission, but the university holds a 99-year license on it.

    Judge Hanen suggested both sides study the possibility of the fence being built along a levee closer to the river that is no longer certified but perhaps could be repaired.

    He also asked about the construction of the fence.

    The "temporary" fence for the campus proposed as a compromise by Homeland Security would consist of concrete jersey barriers with the necessary fencing to reach 18 feet.

    Christopher Sherman,
    The Associated Press

  2. #2
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    Now if we could just get federal judges to protect colleges by kicking the illegals out.
    "Men of low degree are vanity, Men of high degree are a lie. " David
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

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