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Urge Border Governors to say NO to the Border Fence!

 
The natural recovery of Mexican black bears in the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend National Park would suffer a major setback if a fence is built on the U.S.-Mexico border.  The bear population on the US side is very small and dependent on bears being able to cross back and forth across from Mexico.  Photo courtesy Tom Bean.

A major disaster for wildlife and parks along the U.S.--Mexico border may soon become reality if concerned citizens can not rally enough support to stop the construction of 700 mile fence.  On April 1, for the fourth time in the past 2 years, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff used his authority to waive more than 30 environmental laws to expedite building 370 miles worth of new fencing along the U.S. Mexico border, including 57 miles of continuous wire mesh fencing and 21 miles of high-powered lighting from El Paso downstream along the Rio Grande.  Being faced with growing and unexpectedly fierce opposition, DHS is cutting every corner in an attempt to complete 700 miles worth of fencing before the Bush Administration is out of office.
 

If DHS moves forward with fence construction before proper environmental analysis is completed, there will be serious impacts to wildlife and their habitats in the borderland region, including areas such as the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, Big Bend National Park, the Lower Rio Grande Valley Wildlife Refuge, and the Rio Grande near El Paso.  Within these areas live a number of endangered and threatened species, including jaguar, Mexican black bear, ocelot, Gila monster, and Sonoran pronghorn. The Rio Grande is an extraordinarily important area for wildlife in the Chihuahuan Desert, and an important migratory flyway for birds. The proposed fence will block wildlife access and passage, and the proposed lights could adversely affect migratory birds.

We can't allow the DHS to continue down this path.  We need a comprehensive approach to border security that addresses root causes, is effective, and does not cause harm to border wildlife and ecosystems.

Unfortunately, Congress is not likely to act in this election year without significant outside pressure. This is a states' rights issue as much as an environmental one. That's why we are calling on our members who live in border states to contact their governors.

If you live in a border state, please take a moment to call your governor and urge him/her to call on Congress to implement a moratorium on additional fence building along the U.S. Mexico border until the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducts proper environmental analysis and allows for orderly public input.

• (New Mexico Residents) - Call Governor Bill Richardson (505 476-2200)

• (Texas Residents) - Call Governor Rich Perry (512 463-1782)

• (Arizona Residents) - Call Governor Janet Napolitano (602 542-1318)

• (California Residents) - Call Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (916-445-2841) 

After calling your governor, please email "I did it" to aguss@wildmesquite.org 

Key Reasons to Take Action:

• DHS has bypassed more than 30 environmental laws to hurry construction of the border fence, including the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, Clean Air Act, and Clean Water Act.

• DHS needs to conduct proper environmental analysis and needs to allow orderly public input before moving forward with fence construction.

• The Border Fence will have serious impacts on wildlife in the border region, and will do little to combat illegal border crossings.

• DHS is clearly trying to rush completion of the fence before the Bush Administration is out of office.

For more information, contact Adam at of the Southwest Environmental Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico at (575) 522-5552.

Border wall will have a negative effect on wildlife

US & Mexico wildlife species that will be affected by border wall include black bears, jaguars, and ocelots.  Jaguar photo courtesy US Fish and Wildlife.

"In ten months, America will have a new President and a new Congress. Let us stop ill-conceived walls founded in current notions of racism until new leadership moves us to be the beacon of hope to the world once again."

By Senator Eliot Shapleigh, www.shapleigh.org

Editors Note: ILoveParks.com first reported on the border wall threat to US Mexico border parks back in February.  Since then much has been said by political leaders, citizens, and grassroots groups.  Like most threats to our parks the border wall is an example of how the needs of people must also be met when trying to protect our natural resources.  The big question to be asked in the months and years to come is just how a wall between the US and Mexico truly help either?

Last week Senator Eliot Shapleigh submitted the following public comment to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on the proposed border fence through El Paso.  The following is the text of the letter:

March 19, 2008

Secretary Michael Chertoff
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
c/o Gulf South Research Corporation
8081 GSRI Avenue
Baton Rouge, LA 70820
EPEAcomments@BorderFenceNEPA.com

RE:  El Paso Sector Tactical Infrastructure EA

Dear Secretary Chertoff:

As a fifth-generation El Pasoan, I ask you to stop building border walls, which are now called "muros de odio," on our southern border.  For our country to prosper, we must lead the way in the safe, fast and secure movement of people and products in a post-9/11 world.  To achieve success, our borders need adequate staffing, state-of-the-art technology, modern infrastructure and effective enforcement.  Your proposed border wall policy will hurt American interests all across the Americas for a whole generation.  Thus, do no harm and let a new President and a new Congress provide a better, comprehensive solution.

History has shown that anti-immigration sentiment almost always follows a threat to national security.  In the 1850s, the Know Nothing movement gained momentum in response to Protestants' fears of the new wave of Irish and German Catholics.  The Know Nothings sought to not only severely restrict immigration from Catholic countries, but to also prohibit non-Protestants from holding political office or teaching public school.  Soon after the beginning of World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which resulted in the forcible internment of 120,000 Japanese nationals and Japanese Americans in ten camps around the country.  During the Iranian hostage crisis of 1980-81, President Carter ordered all Iranian students in the Untied States to report to INS offices and show the lawfulness of their presence in the country.  In January 1991, the Attorney General mandated the photographing and fingerprinting of virtually all non-immigrants bearing Iraqi and Kuwaiti travel documents before they were allowed enter the country.  Today, the events of 9/11 have caused the United States to re-think immigration once again.  And despite the fact that none of the 9/11 terrorists have arrived in the United States through Mexico, the focus over the past several years has been on our southwestern border.

In my view, the symbolism of the new wall will create a generation of hostility when our nation most needs a generation of support.  During an October 2006 visit to The University of Texas–Permian Basin, the former Soviet President and Nobel Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev commented on the importance of innovative ideas to control the flow of immigration and argued against the building of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.  In a reference to President Reagan's 1987 visit to the Berlin Wall, when Reagan told Mr. Gorbachev, "this wall should be torn down," Mr. Gorbachev said, "I don't think the U.S. is so weak and so much lacks confidence as not to be able to find a different solution… Now the United States seems to be building almost the Wall of China between itself and this other nation with which it has been associated for many decades and has had cooperation and interaction with."

Already, in churches and homes from Chihuahua to Buenos Aires, your walls are called "muros de odio," symbols of a new hatred for which America is now known.  For centuries, America has served as a symbol of freedom and democracy throughout the world, especially with a trading partner with which Texas does more trade each year than with all the European Union combined   How long will it take for our great nation to repair the ill will that these walls have engendered around the world?

In addition to the negative moral and cultural implications, there are many technical reasons to not build this border fence.  On September 29, 2006, the Senate approved the Secure Fence Act (H.R. 6061), which authorized the building of 700 miles of fence along the U.S. southwestern border.  Many land and business owners, law enforcement officials, and environmentalists oppose the new law.  A Washington Post article published in October of 2006 highlighted the new law's most significant flaws:

- The passage of H.R. 6061 ignores the availability of cheaper and more effective technology to guard the border.

- The cost of maintaining the fence would be extremely expensive, especially in areas where summer flash floods are likely to repeatedly uproot sections of the fence.

- Such a barrier would have a negative ecological impact on the region's wildlife (for example, by impeding pronghorn sheep and jaguar from roaming freely between the United States and Mexico)

- In order to build the fence, new roads would have to be built in some regions of the border, thus creating new routes to illegally enter the United States.

- The deadline for completion of the fence is unrealistic as land owners and environmentalists will continue to file lawsuits.  In addition, the Department of Homeland Security has had to file lawsuits against Texas land owners to gain temporary access to the land for surveying purposes.  These have already delayed plans for the fence.

Based on the cost of the existing fence along the San Diego-Mexico border, the House Appropriations Committee estimates that the fence will cost approximately $9 million a mile.  The fence in San Diego was originally estimated to cost $14 million but logistical and legal hurdles led to huge cost overruns.  The first nine miles have already cost $39 million, and the fence remains unfinished.  Although the California legislature has appropriated an additional $35 million to complete the fence—bringing the total cost to $74 million, or more than $5 million a mile—decade-long litigation has delayed its completion. 

Using the House Appropriations Committee's estimate, the total cost of the fence would be $6.3 billion.  However, a study released by the Congressional Research Service estimates the cost of building and maintaining the fence would be about $49 billion; this number does not include the costs of purchasing private lands and any costs associated with using private contractors (versus the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers).

Recent polls indicate that voters are growing wary and resentful of fences and similar fear-based initiatives to generate support for anti-immigration policies.   According to a report by the International Relations Americas Program, the majority of respondents acknowledged that the U.S. government utilizes Americans' fears when developing its foreign policies.  The respondents also agreed that the U.S. should draft foreign policy "in terms of being a good neighbor with other countries because cooperative relationships are ultimately in the best interests of the United States." 

In addition to hindering cultural ties, building a wall impedes the main objectives of international trade agreements, such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)—to promote economic growth, increase exports by eliminating barriers to trade and investment, and create jobs that support expanded trade.  According to the Office of Trade and Industry Information (OTII), export-supported jobs account for an estimated 7.9 percent of Texas' total private-sector employment.  Further, according to data released in 2001, 22.7 percent of all manufacturing workers in Texas depend on exports for their jobs.

Since Mexico's entry into GATT and NAFTA in 1986 and 1993 respectively, Mexico has become the United States' number one trade partner.  In 2005, Mexico was Texas' largest market.  Last year alone, Mexico received exports of $50.1 billion (39 percent) of Texas' total merchandise export.  In sum, while achieving adequate security is a central issue along the border, security policies should not include highly fortified barriers that impede economic growth along the U.S.-Mexico Border or the legitimate flow of commerce and people in and out of Mexico.

On October 30, 2001, only days after the devastation of 9/11, I wrote George Bush to share support and ideas (letter enclosed).  In that letter, we outlined real solutions from real Americans—one stop inspection stations, 24/7 use of existing border infrastructure, better trained staff and most of all, pre-clearance technology to identify and cross safe goods and secure travelers—all proven strategies to speed the movement of secure people and products.

By now, moving people and products faster, safer and smarter in a post-9/11 world should be a top U.S. priority.  Instead we have cabinet level leaders who say “grow up” when we who live, work and raise families on the Border strive daily to make real solutions a reality. 

In ten months, America will have a new President and a new Congress.  Let us stop ill-conceived walls founded in current notions of racism until new leadership moves us to be the beacon of hope to the world once again.  Let us make the case for safer, faster ports to move people and products in a 21st Century world.  And most of all, let us work together, strengthened by the proud legacy of Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy to reach out to our neighbors, family and friends in all the Americas to build lasting bridges of friendship, safety and prosperity—not walls of hatred and division.
 
Very truly yours,
Eliot Shapleigh

No Border Wall groups join forces

March 10, 2008. No Border Wall Coalition, No Wall - Big Bend Coalition and Reviva Collective announced today that they are joining together with other organizations nationwide in a call for a moratorium on the construction of walls along the U.S.-Mexico border.  The groups claim that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) border wall project is politically motivated, that it will have no impact on immigration or smuggling, and will do nothing to protect the U.S. from terrorism.  Yet the wall could have devastating consequences for the environment, the economy, and the communities of the border region.

Last month, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff admitted that no potential terrorists had ever been apprehended on the southern border, and that he doesn’t “see any imminent threat of terrorists infiltrating from Mexico.”  However, DHS has frequently referred to the imminent threat of “terrorists and terrorist weapons” crossing the southern border in order to justify the breakneck speed of border wall construction.

Citing the Border Patrol’s own statistics, they note that illegal crossing of the Texas border has decreased significantly between 2006 and 2007, including a 34% decrease in the Rio Grande Valley Sector and a 46% decrease in the Del Rio Sector.  By contrast, the heavily fortified San Diego Sector, where a triple-layer wall divides the border, saw a 7% increase in illegal crossing, suggesting that walls are not a meaningful deterrent for undocumented crossers.  Indeed, a June 2007 Congressional Research Service report concluded that the walls in San Diego had “no discernible impact” on the number of people entering the U.S. illegally.  Border Patrol has also stated repeatedly that a wall only slows crossers down by a few minutes.      

The groups are also calling for an immediate suspension and repeal of section 102 of the Real ID Act of 2005, which gives DHS Secretary Chertoff the power to waive all laws in order to build the border wall.  Such power concentrated in the hands of an unelected official makes a mockery of democratic processes.   Texas border resident Scott Nicol said of Chertoff’s waivers, “The only reason to waive the laws is because you intend to break them.”

In the hurricane-prone Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, as well as in Presidio, Texas, the border wall is planned to be constructed on or near the flood control levees.  Yet, there have been no studies published that describe what impact the proposed wall would have on flooding or on the integrity of the levee system.

DHS has continued to operate under the false assumption that the harsh conditions of the desert are a deterrent for people seeking entry into the U.S.   As DHS build walls in populated areas, desperation drives more people into remote desert areas where they are more likely to die from dehydration and exposure.  The General Accounting Office found that as walls have gone up, the number of people who have died attempting to enter the U.S. doubled between 1995 and 2005.  This is an ongoing humanitarian crisis that requires an immediate solution.

It is irresponsible to erect a permanent wall without full knowledge of what those consequences will be.  DHS’s blind rush to draw lines on a map, heedless of the consequences on the ground, makes a moratorium on border wall construction imperative.  Congress must take the time to evaluate the serious costs and impacts of the border wall and to determine whether it is in fact the best way to address the complex issues of immigration and national security.

Big Bend activists asking for help with Borderlands Conservation and Security Act

Adrienne Evans is one of many Big Bend area residents protesting the US/Mexico Border Wall

H.R. 2593, the Borderlands Conservation and Security Act, would amend existing border security laws which hinder strategic border security efforts and needlessly ignore environmental impacts and local communities.

The status quo mandates a weak border security mechanism and limits the Department of Homeland Security (DHS): Currently, the Secure Fence Act requires DHS to construct a wall along non-continuous sections of the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Past experiences clearly show, border walls do not stop undocumented immigrants and drug smugglers.  They just go around, climb over or dig under the wall. In addition, a rigidly mandated, one-size-fits-all border wall is inefficient and is an enormous waste of taxpayer dollars. Border security can and should be more strategic. H.R. 2593 would provide experts at DHS the ability to decide whether fences, vehicle barriers, or virtual fences would be most effective way to secure the border.  

The status quo results in uninformed construction to the detriment of wildlife, citizens and border security:  At present, section 102(c) of the Real ID Act grants the DHS Secretary broad and unparalleled authority to waive any and all federal, state and local laws when constructing barriers along the U.S. Border. As a result important considerations, such as blocking vital cross-border wildlife movement, are dismissed in the rush to waive laws and push forward with construction. Citizens, border security experts and land management agencies are all but cut out of the border security decisions. Citizens are denied the right to establish how border walls may devastate local economies dependant on ecotourism, legal international trade and good relations. Indeed, in the most recent waiver case in San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, citizens were denied the right to participate or inform the decision at all. HR. 2593 would give land management agencies, Native American tribes, and local communities a voice in border construction and decision-making. 

The status quo threatens the nation’s commitment to the rule of law: DHS has invoked the Real ID Act waiver three times, waiving more laws with each successive use. Recently, in response to a court determination that DHS border wall construction violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Secretary waived not just NEPA but eighteen other laws as well, each of which was passed by Congress to protect public health, imperiled wildlife, or to guarantee citizens the right and a process to address arbitrary and capricious decisions of their government. And yet, each was waived without congressional oversight, a means of recourse for the public impacted, or any explanation. A notice was filed in the Federal Register and automatically nineteen laws were dismissed. Authorizing DHS to ignore all laws is no way to signal that the rule of law is to be respected. The president does not have the authority to waive laws at will, neither should an unelected official.  We need an urgent and strategic solution to border security, not a reckless one which threatens the rule of law. H.R. 2593 would require compliance with laws meant to protect the air, water, wildlife, culture, and the health and safety of people in borderland communities. 

House of Representatives sponsors included Representatives Sylvestre Reyes and Ciro Rodriquez. More sponsors are needed and you can help by becoming informed and contacting your Representative in Congress and asking him or her to Cosponsor H.R. 2593. Congressman Reyes was recently interviewed about the Act.

Contact your Representative in the House of Representative by Email

Contact your Representatives in both the Senate and House by Phone

Are our US border parks endangered by the border wall?  by Rick LoBello, ILoveParks.com

Over 100 people protest the US Mexico border wall project in the small West Texas town of Marfa on January 23, 2008.  Bill Addington, Vice Chair of the El Paso Regional Group of the Sierra Club, speaks to the media.

Why after over 160 years of peaceful relations with Mexico are we building a wall on our southern border?  How will that wall impact places like Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park in Texas and Organ Pipe National Monument, Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and Sonoran Desert National Monument in Arizona?  Those questions and others are on the minds of millions of people who are facing the hard reality of a US Mexico border wall that some people are calling the biggest US Government blunder since the war in Iraq.  Many Texas officials are calling the wall the “wall of shame”. 

Up until a few years ago our immigration policies were apparently working.  But now that our leaders in Washington have been unable to come up with a solution to immigration problems, Congress and Homeland Security have decided that the best solution is to erect a wall between Mexico and the United States.  They say in their Environmental Assessment that there will be no major impact to the environment.

Written comments on the Assessment may be sent to the Border Patrol Marfa Sector.  The deadline to send comments is February 6, 2008. Send to:MScomments@borderfenceNEPA.com  
 

Big Bend residents protest border wall at rally in Marfa, Texas on January 23, 2008

If built as planned the wall will not only hurt the environment, but also the economy and culture of the border as well.  Walls built between countries have a long history of creating feelings of mistrust while tearing at the fabrics of diverse cultures.  It wasn’t that long ago when President Reagan on June 12, 1987 went to the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin, Germany and called out “Come here to this gate!  Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!  Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!  Will the future of the US include a chapter where the President of Mexico comes to our border and says “Mr. President, tear down this wall!” 

If the wall is built, and many fear it will eventually be connected along every major stretch of the 700 mile US Mexico border, scientists will be able to chronicle major ecological impacts.  We have already seen in recent weeks the cancellation of a major effort to save the endangered jaguar because of the wall going up in Arizona.  The US Fish and Wildlife Service press release does not mention the wall, but it is well known that approximately seven miles of new border fencing goes across a known jaguar corridor between the US and Mexico.  Conservationists and wildlife advocates can best be described as outraged by the USFWS decision and a citizen lawsuit is pending to force USFWS to develop a jaguar recovery plan for the United States.

Last week I attended a rally in Marfa, Texas where over 100 people gathered outside the Paisano Hotel to rally support for a growing movement in Texas to stop the wall.  What was learned at the public hearing was easy to understand, our government has decided to build the wall, and they are simply going through the Environmental Assessment process as a way of living up to their legal responsibilities. 

While I am sure that there are supporters for the wall here on the border I am also sure that most people are against it.  Many are saying that it is a done deal that can not be stopped, but don’t tell that to the people who rallied in Marfa on January 23, 2008.  Led by a grass roots coalition including West Texas environmental activist and Sierra Club vice Chair, Bill Addington, there was little in the air on the streets of Marfa that Wednesday afternoon to indicate that anyone from the area was convinced that the wall was a good idea.  Addington is well known in Texas for his passionate and self sacrificing efforts to fight the nuclear-waste dump that was proposed to be built near Sierra Blanca.  His involvement in this struggle means one simple reality, the fight to stop the wall is far from over. 

To learn more about the wall and how others are trying to stop it you can visit a new blogspot called No Border Wall.  

Written comments on the Assessment may be sent to the Border Patrol Marfa Sector.  The deadline to send comments is February 6, 2008. Send comments to:  MScomments@borderfenceNEPA.com   

Contact Your Elected Officials.  Let them know how you feel about the Border Wall

Mayor of El Paso, John Cook
#2 Civic Center Plaza, 10th floor of City Hall, El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone: 915-541-4145
mayor@elpasotexas.gov 

District 1 Representative Ann Morgan Lilly
2 Civic Center Plaza
El Paso, Texas 79901

541-4151

district#1@elpasotexas.gov

District 2 Representative - Susie Byrd
#2 Civic Center Plaza, El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone: 915-541-4416
district#2@elpasotexas.gov

District 3 Representative – Open  
#2 Civic Center Plaza, El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone: 915-541-4515
district#3@elpasotexas.gov

District 4 Representative - Melina Castro

#2 Civic Center Plaza, El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone: 915-541-4140
district#4@elpasotexas.gov

District 5 Representative - Rachel Quintana

#2 Civic Center Plaza, El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone: 915-541-4701
district#5@elpasotexas.gov

District 6 Representative - Eddie Holguin Jr
#2 Civic Center Plaza, El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone: 915-541-4182
district#6@elpasotexas.gov  

District 7 Representative - Steve Ortega
#2 Civic Center Plaza, El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone: 915-541-4108
district#7@elpasotexas.gov

District 8 Representative - Beto O'Rourke
#2 Civic Center Plaza, El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone: 915-541-4123
district#8@elpasotexas.gov   

County Judge Anthony Cobos
500 E. San Antonio
Suite 301
El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone (915) 546-2098
CountyJudge@epcounty.com 

County Commissioner Precinct 1 Luis Sariñana
500 E. San Antonio Suite 301
El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone (915) 546-2014
 Commissioner1@epcounty.com   

County Commissioner Precinct 2 Veronica Escobar
500 E. San Antonio
Suite 301
El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone (915) 546-2111
commissioner2@epcounty.com 

County Commissioner, Precinct 3 Miguel A. Teran
500 E. San Antonio
El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone (915) 546-2144
commissioner3@epcounty.com 

County Commissioner, Precinct 4 Daniel R. Haggerty
500 E. San Antonio
El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone (915) 546-2044
commissioner4@epcounty.com 

TX State Representative Norma Chavez
6070 Gateway East
El Paso, TX 79905
(915) 778-9960
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist76/chavez.htm 

TX State Representative Pat Haggerty
5764 N. Mesa St.
El Paso, TX 79912
(915) 532-1391 

TX State Representative Paul Moreno
2314 Montana
El Paso, TX 79903
(915) 544-0789 

TX State Representative Joe Pickett
1790 Lee Trevino #307
El Paso, TX 79936
(915) 590-4349 

TX State Representative "Chente" Quintanilla
120 North Horizon Ste. A-112
El Paso, TX 79927
(915) 859-3111 

TX State Senator Eliot Shapleigh
800 Wyoming, Suite A
El Paso TX 79902
Phone: (915) 544-1990 

Congressman Silvestre Reyes
310 N. Mesa, Suite 400
El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone: (915) 534-4400 

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-4304
202-224-5922

Senator John Cornyn
517 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
Main: 202-224-2934

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