Texas Border Business
Laredo, Texas – A U.S. Senate funding bill to fence all but 24 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley drew sharp criticism today from Texas border leaders.
Hours after the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to allocate $1.6 billion to construct bollard fencing along 65 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley, the Texas Border Coalition (TBC) condemned the funding bill as a wasteful plan that will not deliver the security America and Texas needs.
“Such fencing is ineffective and constitutes wasteful spending,” Laredo Mayor and TBC Chairman Pete Saenz said. “It is a cynical attempt by Senate Republicans to fence nearly every mile of the U.S.-Mexico border from Falcon Dam to the Gulf of Mexico with little consideration of the human, economic and environmental impact it will have on border communities.”
The 65 miles of fencing funded by the Senate bill would bring the total fencing to 152 miles in the Rio Grande Valley sector, which is made up of Cameron, Hidalgo and Starr Counties. That would leave 24 miles in the sector unfenced.
Currently, about 55 miles of fencing have already been constructed in the Rio Grande Valley. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is in the process of adding 32 miles (24 miles in Hidalgo County and 8 miles in Starr County) based on 2018 funding.
“The fence installed in San Diego hasn’t stopped illegal immigration; it was intended to re-route immigrant traffic into the Arizona desert where many have died in their attempts to cross the border,” said Cameron County Judge and TBC Chairman-elect Eddie Trevino, Jr. “A fence throughout the Rio Grande Valley will achieve the same results while providing Americans with a false sense of security.”
The Senate funding bill also adds 375 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at border ports of the entry and provides $512 million for State Homeland Security Grants, of which $90 million is for Operation Stonegarden – a $5 million increase.
“While the Senate bill would add more hands on deck, it would result in a less safe border region and a less safe America,” said Monica Weisberg-Stewart, chairwoman of TBC’s immigration and border security committee. “For those of us that live, work and raise our families along the border, we demand and deserve better security proposals than a fence.”
About the Texas Border Coalition
The Texas Border Coalition (TBC) is a collective voice of border mayors, county judges, economic development commissions focused on issues that affect 2.5 million people along the Texas-Mexico border region and economically disadvantaged counties from El Paso to Brownsville. TBC is working closely with the state and federal government to educate, advocate, and secure funding for transportation, immigration and border security, workforce development, economic development, and healthcare. For more information, visit the coalition website at texasbordercoalition.org
