WASHINGTON - Mayors of Texas border towns who met with Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff on Wednesday said they are confident a 850-mile fence will not be built on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Laredo Mayor Raul Salinas said it is "highly unlikely" that the fence, as authorized in a law signed by President Bush, would be funded. "It's a turnaround here. It's the beginning of a new day to say no wall," Salinas said.
Seven mayors and three Texas businessmen met with Chertoff at the office of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. She voted for the fence but wants it adjusted to address local concerns.
Chertoff said after the meeting that there are parts of the border where a fence will work and the agency wants to be "expeditious" in building it. But he said that on some parts of the border a mix of technology will be needed.
"In all cases, we need more boots on the ground," Chertoff said.
Bush signed the law last year and the Republican-controlled Congress provided money to start work on the fence. But Republicans worry that now they have their majority on Capitol Hill, they never will see the fence built. Democrats in charge today generally oppose the fence.
Based on the comments of some Democrats, there is no rush.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he wants the Bush administration to offer a plan for securing the northern and southern borders.
"My preference is to delay the construction of a fence until we have a plan," said Thompson, D-Miss.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said this week Democrats want "the best possible way" to secure the border.
Hoyer voted against the fence last year, as did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Though the total fencing was believed to be about 700 miles, congressional researchers say it is closer to about 850 miles.
A separate law on Homeland Security Department spending provided $1.2 billion for the fencing. That law also withholds $950 million of the sum until the House and Senate appropriations committees approve the department's plan for spending the money.
Aides to the chairmen of the House and Senate appropriations committees declined immediate comment on whether the lawmakers would approve that spending plan or whether they wanted the fence built.
Some Republicans have written Bush asking him to request more money for the fence's construction in his 2008 budget.
In a recent news conference, GOP Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Steve King of New York said the cost of the fence would be in line with the Congressional Budget Office's estimate: $3 million a mile, for a total of $2.6 billion.
"It's just a fence. It's the kind of fence we build in America every day," Hunter said.
In a Dec. 12 report, the Congressional Research Service said costs could be higher.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimated a double-layer fence would cost a little over $1 million a mile, not including buying the land on which it would be built, the research service said. In addition, maintenance could run from $16.4 million to $70 million a mile over 25 years, the Corps said.
The Homeland Security Department has contracted with Boeing for the Secure Border Initiative, consisting of a "virtual fence" of cameras, surveillance technology and new procedures for border agents. The first phase is to be completed in Arizona in June. A recent audit report said that project could cost between $8 billion and $30 billion.
Sounds to me like we really don't need a fence at all... we need the National Guard there armed and ready with orders to intercept and destroy any intruders. About a month or less of that will certainly stem the tide that has become the silent invasion. It is time our politicians wake up to the problem. I find it VERY hard to believe that a double fence would cost anywhere near a million dollars a mile... but then again, our government is in the habit of buying $800 toilet seats and $80 hammers... go figure. Time to turn every God Damn one of the politicians out to pasture.
Afterthought... put the Mafia in charge... What would Tony Soprano do?
