Administration plans more fence building
WASHINGTON (AP) - April 1, 2008 Invoking the legal waivers - which Congress authorized - would
cut through bureaucratic red tape and sidestep environmental laws
that currently stand in the way of the Homeland Security Department
building 267 miles of fencing in California, Arizona, New Mexico
and Texas, according to officials familiar with the plan. The
officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the waivers had
not yet been announced.
The move would be the biggest use of legal waivers since the
administration started building the fence. Previously, the
department has used its waiver authority for two portions of fence
in Arizona and one portion in San Diego.
As of March 17, there were 309 miles of fencing in place,
leaving 361 to be completed by the end of the year. Of those, 267
miles are being held up by federal, state and local laws and
regulations.
The waivers would address the construction of a 22-mile levee
barrier in Hidalgo County, Texas; 30 miles of fencing and
technology deployment on environmentally sensitive ground in San
Diego, Tucson and the Rio Grande; and 215 miles in California,
Arizona and Texas that face other legal impediments due to
administrative processes. For instance, building in some areas
requires assessments and studies that - if conducted - could not be
completed in time to finish the fence by the end of the year.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had said using the
waivers would be a last resort. The department has held more than
100 meetings with lawmakers, environmental groups and residents in
an effort to work out obstacles and objections to fence
construction. The department will conduct environmental assessments
when necessary, one of the officials said. But the waivers allow
the department to start building before completing the assessments.
The department was expected to announce the plans later Tuesday.
Residents and property owners along the U.S.-Mexico border have
complained about the construction of fencing. In South Texas, where
opposition has been widespread, land owners refused to give the
government access to property along the fence route.
The government has since sued more than 50 property owners to
gain access to the land.
Environmentalists have also complained about the fence because
they say it puts already endangered species such as two types of
wild cats - the ocelot and the jaguarundi - in even more danger of
extinction. They say the fence would prevent them from swimming
across the water to mate.
Chertoff has said the fence is good for the environment because
immigrants degrade the land with trash and human waste when they
sneak illegally into the country.