United States–Mexico barrier

The United States–Mexico barrier, also known as the Texas border wall or Texas border fence is actually several separation barriers designed to prevent illegal movement across the U.S.-Mexico border. The barriers were built as part of two larger "Operations" to taper transportation of illegal drugs manufactured in Latin America and illegal immigration: Operation Gatekeeper in California, Operation Hold-the-Line in Texas, and Operation Safeguard in Arizona. The barriers are strategically placed to mitigate the flow of illegal border crossings along the United States-Mexico international border into the geographically vulnerable Southwestern United States. Opponents claim the barriers are a taxpayer boondoggle, an ineffective deterrent and that the barriers inappropriately jeopardize the health and safety of those seeking illegal entry into the United States, as well as destroy animal habitat, prevent animals from reaching water, disturb animal migration patterns and otherwise damage the environment.

Impact on illegal crossings

The 1,952 mile (3,141 km) border between the United States and Mexico traverses a variety of terrains, including urban areas and deserts. The barrier is located on both urban and uninhabited sections of the border, areas where the most concentrated numbers of illegal crossings and drug trafficking have been observed in the past. These urban areas include San Diego, California and El Paso, Texas. As of August 29, 2008, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had built 190 miles of pedestrian border fence and 154.3 miles of vehicle border fence, for a total of 344.3 miles of fence. The completed fence is mainly in New Mexico, Arizona, and California, with construction under way in Texas. [http://www.cbp.gov/ U.S. Customs and Border Protection] ] The border fence is not one continuous structure and is actually a grouping of short physical walls that stop and start, secured in between with "virtual fence" which includes a system of sensors and cameras monitored by Border Patrol agents. cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/432/|title=The Border Fence|publisher=NOW on PBS] As a result of the success of the barrier, there has been a marked increase in the number of people trying to illegally cross the Sonoran Desert and crossing over the Baboquivari Mountain in Arizona.Fact|date=July 2008 Such illegal immigrants must cross 50 miles (80 km) of inhospitable terrain to reach the first road, which is located in the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation.Fact|date=October 2007

There has been around five thousand migrant deaths along the Mexico-U.S. border in the last thirteen years, according to a document created by the Human Rights National Commission of Mexico, also signed by the American Civil Liberties Union [ [http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/463596.html El Universal de Mexico (Spanish)] Retrieved on 09/11/2007] Between 43 and 61 people died trying to cross the Sonoran Desert during that same time period; three times that of the same period the previous year.Fact|date=October 2007 In October 2004 the Border Patrol announced that 325 people had died crossing the entire border during the previous 12 months.Fact|date=October 2007 Between 1998 and 2004, 1,954 persons are officially reported to have died along the US-Mexico border. Since 2004, the bodies of 1086 migrants have been recovered in the southern Arizona desert. [New Matilda [http://newmatilda.com/2008/08/15/long-graveyard The Long Graveyard] ]

Between October 1, 2003, and April 30, 2004, 660,390 people were detained by the United States Border Patrol as they tried to cross the border illegally. In recent years people of non-Mexican origin, often from Central America, have also been using the Mexican border to secure access to the USA. (The U.S. Border Patrol refers to those from other countries as "Other Than Mexican").Fact|date=October 2007

Barrier status

U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California and the then-chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, proposed a plan to the House on November 3, 2005 calling for the construction of a reinforced fence along the entire United States – Mexican border. This would also include a 100-yard border zone on the U.S. side. On December 15, 2005, Congressman Hunter's amendment to the Border Protection, Anti-terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 (H.R. 4437) passed in the House. This plan calls for mandatory fencing along 698 miles (1,123 km) of the Mexican border. [cite web| url=http://www.house.gov/hunter/news_prior_2006/fence.amendment.html| title=HUNTER PROPOSAL FOR STRATEGIC BORDER FENCING PASSES HOUSE| year=2005| accessdate=2006-10-10] On May 17, 2006 the U.S. Senate proposed with Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S. 2611) what could be 370 miles of triple layered-fencing and a vehicle fence. Although that bill died in committee, eventually the Secure Fence Act of 2006 was passed by Congress and signed by President Bush on October 26, 2006.

The government of Mexico, as well as intellectuals of that country and ministers of several Latin American countries have condemned the plans. [cite web| url=http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/12/20/D8EK9N0G6.html| title=Mexico Promises to Block Border Wall Plan| first=Mark| last=Stevenson| accessdate=2006-03-07] Rick Perry, governor of Texas, also expressed his opposition saying that instead of closing the border it should be opened more and through technology support legal and safe migration. [cite web|title=Rechaza gobernador de Texas muro fronterizo| url=http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/326377.html| language=Spanish| accessdate=2006-03-07] The barrier expansion has also been opposed by a unanimous vote of the Laredo, Texas City Council.James Rowley, "U.S.-Mexico Border Fence Plan Will Be 'Revisited' By Congress," Bloomberg, January 17, 2007.] Laredo's Mayor, Raul G. Salinas, is concerned about defending his town's people by saying that the Bill which includes miles of border wall would devastate Laredo. He states "these are people that are sustaining our economy by forty percent, and I am gonna [sic] close the door on them and put [up] a wall? You don't do that. It's like a slap in the face." He hopes that Congress would revise the Bill that better reflects the realities of life on the border. [cite news | url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5543027|title=Immigration Debate Divides Laredo | work=NPR |date=2006-07-08| accessdate=2007-09-28| last=Kahn| first=Carrie]

ecure Fence Act

House Resolution 6061 (H.R. 6061), "Secure Fence Act of 2006", was introduced on September 13, 2006. It passed through the U.S. House of Representatives on September 14, 2006 with a vote of 283–138.

On September 29, 2006, by a vote of 80–19 the U.S. Senate confirmed H.R. 6061 authorizing, and partially funding the "possible" construction of 700 miles (1,125 km) of physical fence/barriers along the border. The very broad support implies that manyassurances have been made by the Administration, to the Democrats, Mexico, and the pro "Comprehensive immigration reform" minority within the GOP, that Homeland Security will proceed very cautiously. Michael Chertoff, announced that an eight-month test of thevirtual fence, he favors, will precede any construction of a physical barrier. Any large scale fence construction will occur late in the Bush presidency, if at all, prior to a new administration.Fact|date=August 2008

On October 26, 2006, President George W. Bush signed H.R. 6061 which was voted upon and passed by the 109th Congress of the United States. [cite web|title=ABC News: Bush Signs U.S.-Mexico Border Fence Bill|url=http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2607329&page=1| accessdate=2006-10-26] The signing of the bill comes right after a CNN poll shows us that most Americans "prefer the idea of more Border Patrol agents to a 700-mile (1,125-kilometer) fence." [cite web|title=Bush OKs 700-mile border fence - CNN.com|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/26/border.fence/index.html?eref=rss_politics| accessdate=2006-10-26] There is a down payment of $1.2 billion to the Department of Homeland Security marked for border security, but not specifically for the border fence.

Rethinking the expansion

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) announced in January 2007 that Congress will revisit the fence plan, while committee chairs are holding up funding until a comprehensive border security plan is presented by the Department of Homeland Security. Both Senators from Texas, John Cornyn (R-TX) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), advocate revising the plan.

Construction of the border fence will not be subject to any laws. This is because in 2005 the Real ID Act, attached as a rider to a supplemental appropriations bill funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, decreed, “Not withstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall have the authority to waive all legal requirements such Secretary, in such Secretary’s sole discretion, determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and roads. On September 22, 2005, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff used his new power to “waive in their entirety” the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act to extend triple fencing through the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve near San Diego.Fact|date=May 2008 The Real ID Act further stipulates that his decisions are not subject to judicial review, and in December 2005 a federal judge dismissed legal challenges by the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society, and others to Chertoff’s decision.

Controversy

There are three Native American Nations whose lands would be divided by the proposed border fence. [http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=c17899ed7975f1ada871e1da0c8b52f2 Border Fence to Divide Three Native American Nations] ] [http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411826 O'odham tell U.N. rapporteur of struggles] Indian Country, October 31, 2005] [http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=4ab13dbeafea01c7a2e94c60ea38cb9e Fence In The Sky -- Border Wall Cuts Through Native Land] ] [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401827.html As Border Crackdown Intensifies, A Tribe Is Caught in the Crossfire] Washington Post, September 15, 2006] [http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/engAMR510031998 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS IN THE BORDER REGION WITH MEXICO] Amnesty International, May 20, 1998]

In the spring of 2007 more than 25 landowners, including a corporation and a school district, from Hidalgo and Starr county in Texas refused border fence surveys, which would determine what land was eligible for building on, as an act of protest. [ [http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/hidalgo_85227___article.html/border_fence.html Local: Hidalgo border fence suits head to court | hidalgo, border, fence : Brownsville Herald ] ] In July, 2008, Hidalgo County and Hidalgo County Drainage District No. 1 entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the construction of a project that combines the border fence with a levee to control flooding along the Rio Grande. Construction of two of the Hidalgo County fence segments are under way; five more segments are scheduled to be built during the fall of 2008; the Hidalgo County section of the border fence will constitute 22 miles of combined fence and levee. [http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/county_89794___article.html/hidalgo_wall.html Border wall in Hidalgo County moves forward] Brownsville Herald, September 6, 2008]

Eloisa Garcia Tamez, a Lipan Apache of Encantada-Ranchito El Calaboz, Texas rancheria, challenged the United States Department of Homeland Security, the Customs Border Patrol and the Army Corps of Engineers in a constitutional law case, Eloisa G. Tamez v. Michael Chertoff/U.S. Department Homeland Security. Civil Action #1:08-CV-044 [http://www.ailf.org/lac/chdocs/Tamez-certclass.pdf]

The proposed route for the border fence would divide the campus of the University of Texas at Brownsville into two parts, according to Antonio N. Zavaleta, a vice president of the university. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/20/us/20border.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin Some Texans Fear Border Fence Will Sever Routine of Daily Life] New York Times, June 20, 2007] In August, 2008, UT-Brownsville reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the university to construct a portion of the fence across and adjacent to its property. The final agreement, which was filed in federal court on Aug. 5 and formally signed by the Texas Southmost College Board of Trustees later that day, ended all court proceedings between UTB/TSC and DHS. On August 20, 2008, the university sent out a request for bids for the construction of a 10-foot high barrier that incorporates technology security for its segment of the border fence project. The southern perimeter of the UTB/TSC campus will be part of a laboratory for testing new security technology and infrastructure combinations. [ [http://www.utb.edu/newsinfo/Pages/2008_08_20BorderFenceUpdate_RFP.aspx Bids Requested for Fence Upgrade] The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, August 20, 2008]

In the spring of 2007 more than 25 landowners, including a corporation and a school district, from Hidalgo and Starr county in Texas refused border fence surveys, which would determine what land was eligible for building on, as an act of protest. [ [http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/hidalgo_85227___article.html/border_fence.html Local: Hidalgo border fence suits head to court | hidalgo, border, fence : Brownsville Herald ] ] In July, 2008, Hidalgo County and Hidalgo County Drainage District No. 1 entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the construction of a project that combines the border fence with a levee to control flooding along the Rio Grande. Construction of two of the Hidalgo County fence segments are under way; five more segments are scheduled to be built during the fall of 2008; the Hidalgo County section of the border fence will constitute 22 miles of combined fence and levee. [http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/county_89794___article.html/hidalgo_wall.html] ] ( [http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/06/20/us/0620-nat-webBORDER.jpgMap of proposed route] )

There have been campus protests against the wall by students who feel it will harm their school. cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/432/|title=The Border Fence|publisher=NOW on PBS]

Mexico has urged the US to alter its plans for expanded fences along their shared border, saying they would damage the environment and harm wildlife. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6924475.stm BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US border fences 'an eco-danger' ] ]

In June 2007 it was announced that a section of the barrier had been mistakenly built from 1 to 6 feet inside Mexican territory. This will necessitate the section being moved at an estimated cost of over 3 million dollars. [ [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/29/national/main3001227.shtml Border Fence Built In Mexico By Mistake, Fixing 1- To 6-Foot Error May Cost $3 Million - CBS News ] ]

In September 2007 a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson announced that 60-75 percent of the protected lands and refuges in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas would be affected by the border wall. Several environmental groups claimed it would be a major detriment, as it would block river access and destroy essential vegetation for many native and migratory species. [ [http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/fence_80626___article.html/border_wildlife.html Top Story: Much of border wall to be built on refuge land | fence, border, wildlife : Brownsville Herald ] ]

On January 27, 2008 a U.S. Native American human rights delegation, which included Margo Tamez, (Lipan Apache-Jumano Apache) and Teresa Leal (Opata-Mayo) [http://narcosphere.narconews.com/node/2089 reported] the removal of the official [http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/summer/mexico-1.html International Boundary obelisks of 1848] by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the Las Mariposas, Sonora-Arizona sector of the Mexico-U.S. border. The obelisks were moved southward approximately 20 meters, onto the property of private land-owners in Sonora, as part of the larger project of installing the 18 foot steel barrier wall. [ [http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/brenda-norrell/2008/02/nogales-residents-say-us-building-border-wall-mexicos-land Nogales Residents Say US is Building Border Wall on Mexico's Land | | the narcosphere ] ]

In April 2008 the Department of Homeland security announced plans to waive more than 30 environmental and cultural laws to speed construction of the barrier. Despite claims from Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff that the department would minimize the construction's impact on the environment, critics in Arizona and Texas asserted the fence endangered species and fragile ecosystems along the Rio Grande. Environmentalists expressed concern about butterfly migration corridors and the future of two species of local wildcats, the ocelot and the jaguarundi. [ [http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fence2apr02,0,5819252.story Border fence will skirt environmental laws - Los Angeles Times ] ] U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is conducting an environmental review of each pedestrian and vehicle fence segment covered by the waiver, and is publishing the results of this analysis in Environmental Stewardship Plans (ESPs). These ESPs include mitigation measures and Best Management Practices developed to minimize adverse impacts.

Although not required by the waiver, CBP is conducting the same level of environmental analysis (in the ESPs) that would have been performed before the waiver (in the “normal” NEPA process) to evaluate potential impacts to sensitive resources in the areas where fence is being constructed. CBP is using the same standards and guidelines to evaluate potential environmental impacts and appropriate mitigations as would have been used without the waiver.

CBP is preparing 13 Environmental Stewardship Plans that cover all pedestrian fence projects that evaluate potential impacts to natural and cultural resources associated with the pedestrian fence construction. To date, 8 of 13 planned ESPs have been completed and are being posted to the agency’s public website, BorderFencePlanning.com, and are being made available for the public to read in public libraries across the border region. For the ESPs that were based on previous NEPA documents, CBP is preparing, in addition, a companion report that will provide all of the public comments received regarding the original NEPA document, and will detail how those comments were addressed in the ESPs.

CBP coordinates with federal and state resource agencies, tribes and other stakeholders as fence construction plans continue to develop, and continues to seek input -- and make appropriate changes -- to address stakeholder concerns. CBP is ensuring that the ESPs are implemented by incorporating these plans into its construction contracts. Contractors must implement the Best Management Practices outlined in the ESPs to protect resources that are part of these plans. In addition, CBP has hired third-party, independent biological resource monitors to advise the U.S. Corps of Engineers construction managers and construction contractors, and to document performance in meeting these plans. CBP is providing construction contractors with training, before construction begins, on sensitive natural resources in the project area, and has outlined procedures that are to be followed if an endangered species is encountered during construction.

CBP also has addressed the identification and preservation of cultural resources in the areas of fence construction in a similar fashion, maintaining continuous consultation with State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPS) and Native American Tribal Historic offices regarding cultural resources and potentially sensitive sites that could be affected. CBP developed agreements with the SHPS and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for additional study and data recovery at sites of cultural significance. So far, CBP has funded more than 50 excavations and recovered hundreds of artifacts that otherwise might never have been uncovered.

CBP has hired third-party, independent cultural resource monitors, including trained archeologists, to advise Corps of Engineers construction managers and construction contractors, and to document any pertinent discoveries. These specialists have performed surveys of corridors, access roads and staging areas to develop a comprehensive list of significant sites linked to the fence project, and have identified more than 100 previously unknown sites.

As of August, 2008, more than 90 percent of the southern border in Arizona and New Mexico had been surveyed. The remaining portions will be surveyed in the next three months. In addition, 80 percent of the California/Mexico border has been surveyed. [http://www.cbp.gov/ U.S. Customs and Border Protection] ]

Public opinion in the United States

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, an April 2008 poll using neutral language "show that voters often do not share their candidate's positions" related to immigration policies in the U.S. [ [http://www.cis.org/articles/2008/voter_release_08.html Center for Immigration Studies ] ] Generally, Hispanic and Asian communities favor more open borders and legalization, while Whites and Blacks favor enforcement and closed borders; When queried to rate most to least important issues, 2008 polls revealed that only 10% rate immigration as their "top issue," whereas (40%) rate the economy as most important, (20%) rate the Iraq War as most important, and (20%) rate healthcare as most important. [ [http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3341_0_2_0 Migration News - Migration Dialogue ] ] [George E. Condon, Jr., "Growers Hope Immigration Debate Resonates in Presidential Campaign," [San Diego] "San Diego Union Tribune, April 7, 2008]

A May 1, 2008 Rasmussen Reports poll revealed that Texans favored building a fence along the U.S. border with Mexico, with 52 percent in favor and 37 percent against (margin of error: +/- 4.5 percentage points). An August 18, 2007 nationwide poll asking the same question, found 56 percent in favor and 31 percent against. This poll also found that among those who identified themselves as Republicans 75 percent supported building a fence along the border.http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/state_toplines/texas/toplines_texas_may_1_2008M] [Joe Murray, "Poll: Americans Frustrated With Immigration Crisis," [Philadelphia] "Evening Bulletin, August 21, 2007]

There is an underwhelming effort to protect natural ecosystems and wildlife habitats located throughout this region. Many seasonal migration and hunting routes run through this corridor. A few organizations have higlighted the effect of the barrier on other species, such as the [http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/5153 Enivronmental News Network] and [http://blog.peta.org/archives/2008/08/peta_warns_mexi.php PETA] .

ee also

*Immigration to the United States
*Migrant deaths along the Mexico-U.S. border
*List of United States Immigration Acts
*List of walls
*Operation Gatekeeper
*Operation Jump Start
*Separation barrier
*United States-Mexico relations
*United States–Mexico border
*United States Border Patrol
*United States-Canada border
*Illegal entry

References

External links

* [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.06061: Library of Congress Bill Summary & Status on H.R. 6061]
* [http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2006/10/fences-and-mushrooms-along-border.php Fences and Mushrooms Along the Border] , JURIST