August 2008

Hispanic Lawmakers Take Aim at Border Fence

ispanic members of Congress are trying to find ways to keep the U.S. border with Mexico open to the flow of illegal immigration.

In a display of ethnic solidarity with foreign Hispanics that puts U.S. national security at risk, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) are considering legislative strategies to block border fencing that include stripping the budget of construction funds, restricting areas patrolled by border security officers, and declaring border regions as official "wilderness areas" where environmental regulations would prohibit fence construction.

"We are doing everything we can to stop any fencing going up," bragged Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-TX, of the CHC.

Another CHC member, Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-TX, said he believes the Hispanics in Congress will succeed in stopping the Department of Homeland Security from building a fence along the border with Mexico.

"We are fighting to not continue the funding, but they (the Department of Homeland Security) are saying they are going to spend all the money before this administration ends. Our strategy looks good so far, but there's a lot of work still to do," said Ortiz.

Rep. Paul Grijalva, D-AZ, another CHC member, has introduced bills that would restrict federal and state law enforcement from patrolling certain border areas used by illegal aliens and their criminal smugglers. One border area extends from Sonora, Mexico, into Santa Cruz County, Arizona. His legislation would extend federal wildnerness protections to 84,000 acres of the Tumacacori Highlands inside the Coronado National Forest near the Mexican border. Illegals regularly travel through the forest to break into the U.S.

Zack Taylor, a retired U.S. Border Patrol officer, told CNSNews that the bill would have the effect of moving the Mexican border 30 miles northward. He said Grijalva's bill would create "safe havens" for criminal drug smugglers and illegal aliens. Grijalva's proposed legislation would cause "great harm" to U.S. national security because it would "restrict our agents from operating in key corridors," Taylor said.

Grijalva's bill H.R. 2593, the Borderlands Conservation and Security Act, would severely restrict border security personnel from operating on federal land, and his H.R.3287, the Tumacacori Highlands Wilderness Act, creates a protected wilderness area out of the border region that experiences one of the highest rates of illegal entries from Mexico.

Some groups claiming to be environmentalists have lined up to support Grijalva's legislation.

Matt Skroch, executive director of the Sky Island Alliance, backs the Wilderness Act. In testimony before the House subcommittee on parks, forests, and public lands that is chaired by Grijalvas, Skroch said the bill would guarantee "our quality of life and access to premier wilderness lands." H.R. 2593 has 49 cosponsors, including more than half of all CHC members.