State representatives to visit border fence on Tuesday

Brownsville Herald
September 6, 2008

State representatives from north Texas will travel to sites along the path of the U.S.-Mexico border fence on Tuesday to see where construction has begun and is being planned.

"With the U.S. economy teetering on recession and ballooning federal budget deficits, the border wall is the wrong way to address the country's news/" class="autolink">immigration problem," wrote Craig Adair, spokesman for Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, in a press release.

Members of the Texas House of Representatives will speak to those who live along the path of the planned fence whose land has been condemned by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

"There is a misperception that border communities are the only ones concerned about the border wall," said State Rep. Roberto Alonzo, D-Dallas. "The wall is part of a misguided, enforcement-only approach to immigration that ignores the reality that our economy depends on immigrant workers."

Representatives will also speak with environmental groups who have contested the constitutionality of the Real ID Act, which granted DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff the authority to waive laws in the interest of national security.

"There's a reason why federal law requires input from local wildlife and natural resource managers," said Burnam. "Just be cause Congress authorized Chertoff to ignore long-standing and crucial environmental laws doesn't mean it's good policy to do so."

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