Texans oppose more border fences

LOS EBANOS, Texas If Congress agrees on a comprehensive immigration reform bill, it will probably include a requirement to erect fencing that would wrap more of the nations nearly 2,000-mile Southwest border in tall steel columns.

But the mandate would essentially double down on a strategy that U.S. Customs and Border Protection isnt even sure works. And the prospect of the government seizing more land offends many property owners here in the southernmost tip of Texas, where hundreds of people already lost property during the last fence construction spree.

Im still totally against it, said Aleida Garcia, who was among the Los Ebanos residents whose land was taken back in 2008, when this hamlet surrounded on three sides by the Rio Grande was slated to get a U-shaped segment of fencing.

Given the choice, Garcia said, she would rather have more agents patrolling the area. At least that would create some jobs, she added.

The regions lawmakers appear to agree. Three Democratic congressmen from the Texas border who support immigration reform have announced that they would not support any bill conditioned on the construction of more border fence.

It doesnt do what proponents think it does, said Rep. Filemon Vela, of Brownsville, who resigned from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in protest. Building more fence makes no sense to me.

The fences backers say its a common-sense solution to keeping people from crossing the porous border.

The strip of land bisecting Garcias La Paloma Ranch was eventually returned after the bi-national agency that monitors border treaties said the fence couldnt be built in a flood plain. But those objections were dropped last year, and the U.S. government has resumed planning for that fence.

The government is still in court with Texas landowners over the fencing built here last time. And yet, despite the existing barrier, the area leads the border in illegal-entry arrests.

Now the Senates immigration bill calls for at least 700 miles of border fencing half of which already exists.

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Texans oppose more border fences