Last week as part of the FY08 Defense Appropriations bill, the Senate adopted an amendment by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to provide $3 billion in emergency spending for more border agents, completion of 700 miles of fencing along the southwest border, and procurement of cameras, ground-based radar and vehicle barriers. Senator Graham’s amendment passed by a vote of 95-1. The defense spending measure passed the Senate on Wednesday, Oct. 3rd. The legislation now awaits a conference between the House and Senate.
Recently, the Department of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, released details of the proposed sites for construction of the border fence in the Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley (Texas) and San Diego (California) sectors.
The border fence has become a key point of contention between the United States and Mexico. The fence has also generated concerns from border communities, landowners, and wildlife and environmental groups.
The Border Trade Alliance (BTA) opposed the Secure Fence Act, a measure which authorized the fence, as an inefficient use of resources to secure our border. According to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, which quotes a study conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, estimates for yearly maintenance costs per mile of fencing range from $1,742 to $17,753, depending upon the amount of wear and damage sustained. Prior to the passage of the Graham amendment to the FY08 Defense spending bill, Congress had approved $1.2 billion for the construction of the border fence. The estimated costs for completion of the border fence range widely, from a low of $2.1 billion to a high of $49 billion. In contrast, according to DHS, it costs roughly $188,000 (in 2006 dollars) to hire, train, and equip one new border agent.
Since Congress mandated the construction of the physical fence in 2006, the BTA has continued to bring the concerns of border communities, land owners and other stakeholders impacted by the fence to DHS to ensure that issues such as site selection and access to water rights are appropriately addressed.
Leave a Reply
The BTA reserves the right to post comments it feels are appropriate to creating a dialog around border issues. We are interested in hearing from all points of view and encourage those with unique, constructive perspectives to contribute their view points to help shape the future of our borders. BTA is a tri-national organization and will not accept posts that contain derogatory comments made towards citizens, groups, or organizations of any kind.