Movable Border Wall, Clown Cars
July 21st, 2008 at 4:04 pm
The Secure Border Fence Act passed in 2006, but the Department of Homeland Security only just realized that the homeland has an international water treaty with Mexico that prohibits the building of fences in the Rio Grande Valley’s floodplain.
DHS’ solution? A movable fence, of course. Can’t wait to see which private company gets the fat contract to move the fence before major flooding events. The more I read, the more I expect a Volkswagen to pull up with 17 clowns and Michael Chertoff crammed inside. Would anyone be surprised?
DHS is supposed to start building the border wall on top of existing levees — themselves long overdue for repairs — during the heart of this summer’s hurricane season. After the disaster in New Orleans, it boggles the mind that Hidalgo County officials have to fly to D.C. and beg for federal funding to repair their federal levees before a major flooding disaster occurs.
DHS has also proposed movable fencing along Arizona’s San Pedro River. Since the Congressional Research Office estimated $49 billion for 700 miles of border fence, then it’s reasonable to expect that movable fencing will cost taxpayers even more. Plus, the government will need to pay someone to move the fencing when disaster looms. Sounds like whoever gets the contract will also deserve hazard pay — add that to the nation’s already-bloated border security costs.
Wouldn’t it have made more sense, and cost U.S. taxpayers a lot less money, if DHS had simply consulted with border residents and border officials first? If they had asked (or listened to) groups like the Texas Border Coalition? Chertoff might have learned that eliminating salt cedar and Carrizo cane from the Rio Grande, expanding the river channel, adding more Border Patrol agents and employing virtual-fence technology (provided it works) might actually secure the border better. And how about comprehensive immigration reform?
Then again, maybe not. Where are the no-bid contracts in that?
July 21st, 2008 at 4:24 pm
One quick correction, as I prepare for hurricane Dolly. You wrote,
DHS is supposed to start building the border wall on top of existing levees — themselves long overdue for repairs — during the heart of this summer’s hurricane season.
DHS is actually carving into the levees to insert the border wall. The cut will be 24 feet at the toe of the levee on the south side. The wall is supposed to be 15 - 18 feet tall, but the levees are not that tall in all places. Because of our treaty obligations, our levees cannot be taller than Mexico’s, or in a bad flood we would push water over their levees. So in places where the levee is only, say, 10 feet tall, steel posts filled with concrete will be sunk into the top of the levee to make up the difference.
And of course those of us who live in HIdalgo County, where the levees will be torn into to insert the wall (good thing the hurricane didn’t wait a couple of weeks) will also be footing the bill. When Hidalgo County Judge JD Salinas penned the deal to do this, it was claimed that the levee wall would cost $5 million per mile. 22 miles of levee will get this treatment, so the final bill was supposed to be $110 million. So as not to put Chertoff out too much, Hidlago County will pay $46 million, and DHS will pay $64 million. Trouble is, when the bids for the first two sections came back, the low bid was for $12 million per mile, with the other bids at $16 million per mile. So Hidlago County will be on the hook for $264 million for a wall that none of us want, and we will be praying that Senator Cornyn can find the money to reimburse us. He’s been such a friend to south Texas it’s a sure bet, right?
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:39 pm
What else can you say about this? It is a sick parody of itself. The deeper you look, the worse it gets.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:29 am
Kind Observers, I’m compiling a bibliography of “Texas Historical and Literary Blogs” that’ll be published in my “Will’s Texana Monthly.” I’m wondering about the TO Blog. With whom may I email on the matter? Thanks, Will
August 22nd, 2008 at 11:46 pm
oh no!