Clandestino
04-12-2005, 11:51 AM
with those anti-abortionist protestors!
Border fence to shield Laredo college
Web Posted: 04/12/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Jesse Bogan
Express-News Border Bureau
LAREDO — The U.S. Marines landed near the Rio Grande last week, equipped with rental dump trunks and orders to build a 10-foot fence for the U.S. Border Patrol.
The 1.1-mile black fence, made of closely spaced vertical bars, will help shield Laredo Community College's main campus from drug mules and undocumented immigrants who pass through, officials said.
It's one of the few fences in South Texas the patrol has placed in areas with a lot of undocumented immigrant traffic.
Environmentalists wince at the construction because it passes through nature trails and wildlife habitat, but college President Ramón Dovalina says it's needed.
Campus police in March seized an SUV with 500 pounds of marijuana inside. The smugglers, who escaped across the river, had used the school tennis courts as a staging area.
"This gives us more security," Dovalina said.
Not far from the fence site, wet clothes and plastic bags that carried dry clothing hang in the brush, discarded by immigrants who crossed the river on their way north.
"That area is very hard to patrol because of the brush and the road and all that, so this kind of helps us divert traffic to areas where we can actually see what's going on," said John Esquivel, assistant chief patrol agent, who is a supervisor for the project.
A riverside dirt road frequented by Border Patrol agents, immigrants and joggers also is being upgraded with small bridges in areas where it often washes out. A set of observation towers is also in the works.
The Marines are part of an engineer support battalion out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.
"It's training for us in support of the Border Patrol," said Capt. James Stafford.
The Joint Task Force North, out of Fort Bliss, coordinates the maintenance of several roadways along the 2,000-mile border, including construction of a $2.5 million bridge in August over a creek on a ranch near Eagle Pass to help Border Patrol agents respond more quickly to illegal traffic.
The Laredo fence will cost about $350,000, not including the road and bridge work, said Jeff Labenz-Hough of San Antonio-based HDR Engineering Inc., the project manager.
It's being built at least 150 yards from the river's edge and is designed to serve both the college and the patrol, he said.
"Our expectation is that as aliens from the other side look across and see it, they will move either upstream or downstream," Labenz-Hough said.
"The fence will act sort of as a barrier and will funnel the traffic around the ends so it's a little more predictable as to where those aliens will be coming across.
"The assumption is (they will) walk around it rather than try to climb over it," he said.
One of the Marines working on the fence, however, said, "They could dig under it, they could climb over it. The best thing to do would be to clear all this out, put up signs saying, 'Trespassers will be shot.'"
Tom Miller, director of the Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center at the community college, said he was upset the Marines were stripping the banks of brush and trees in areas that shouldn't have been touched.
He expressed his concerns to Marine Lt. Theresa Hornick, who was diplomatic in her response.
"I didn't know about that, Mr. Miller," she said. "I am sorry."
Walking through the nature trails the center maintains near the fence, Miller vented about the care of the brushy land.
The fence will have lockable gates so people will be able to access the trails during the day, but the Border Patrol "has basically trashed the trails, making their own lookouts, topping off trees if they are in the line of sight," he said.
Passing through a particularly littered area in a thicket of carrizo reeds, Miller was taken back by the passing immigrants' trash. Blue plastic bags were scattered on the ground, and undergarments hung from branches.
"Wow," he said, "we got a lot of bags down here."
Border fence to shield Laredo college
Web Posted: 04/12/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Jesse Bogan
Express-News Border Bureau
LAREDO — The U.S. Marines landed near the Rio Grande last week, equipped with rental dump trunks and orders to build a 10-foot fence for the U.S. Border Patrol.
The 1.1-mile black fence, made of closely spaced vertical bars, will help shield Laredo Community College's main campus from drug mules and undocumented immigrants who pass through, officials said.
It's one of the few fences in South Texas the patrol has placed in areas with a lot of undocumented immigrant traffic.
Environmentalists wince at the construction because it passes through nature trails and wildlife habitat, but college President Ramón Dovalina says it's needed.
Campus police in March seized an SUV with 500 pounds of marijuana inside. The smugglers, who escaped across the river, had used the school tennis courts as a staging area.
"This gives us more security," Dovalina said.
Not far from the fence site, wet clothes and plastic bags that carried dry clothing hang in the brush, discarded by immigrants who crossed the river on their way north.
"That area is very hard to patrol because of the brush and the road and all that, so this kind of helps us divert traffic to areas where we can actually see what's going on," said John Esquivel, assistant chief patrol agent, who is a supervisor for the project.
A riverside dirt road frequented by Border Patrol agents, immigrants and joggers also is being upgraded with small bridges in areas where it often washes out. A set of observation towers is also in the works.
The Marines are part of an engineer support battalion out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.
"It's training for us in support of the Border Patrol," said Capt. James Stafford.
The Joint Task Force North, out of Fort Bliss, coordinates the maintenance of several roadways along the 2,000-mile border, including construction of a $2.5 million bridge in August over a creek on a ranch near Eagle Pass to help Border Patrol agents respond more quickly to illegal traffic.
The Laredo fence will cost about $350,000, not including the road and bridge work, said Jeff Labenz-Hough of San Antonio-based HDR Engineering Inc., the project manager.
It's being built at least 150 yards from the river's edge and is designed to serve both the college and the patrol, he said.
"Our expectation is that as aliens from the other side look across and see it, they will move either upstream or downstream," Labenz-Hough said.
"The fence will act sort of as a barrier and will funnel the traffic around the ends so it's a little more predictable as to where those aliens will be coming across.
"The assumption is (they will) walk around it rather than try to climb over it," he said.
One of the Marines working on the fence, however, said, "They could dig under it, they could climb over it. The best thing to do would be to clear all this out, put up signs saying, 'Trespassers will be shot.'"
Tom Miller, director of the Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center at the community college, said he was upset the Marines were stripping the banks of brush and trees in areas that shouldn't have been touched.
He expressed his concerns to Marine Lt. Theresa Hornick, who was diplomatic in her response.
"I didn't know about that, Mr. Miller," she said. "I am sorry."
Walking through the nature trails the center maintains near the fence, Miller vented about the care of the brushy land.
The fence will have lockable gates so people will be able to access the trails during the day, but the Border Patrol "has basically trashed the trails, making their own lookouts, topping off trees if they are in the line of sight," he said.
Passing through a particularly littered area in a thicket of carrizo reeds, Miller was taken back by the passing immigrants' trash. Blue plastic bags were scattered on the ground, and undergarments hung from branches.
"Wow," he said, "we got a lot of bags down here."