BORDER SECURITY ISSUES

Editor's Note: This is part one in a three-part series about border security measures and how they affect the region.

Recently, the border region has become the federal government's focus as a strategic point for homeland security concerns, said Steve McCraw, Texas director of Homeland Security.

Illegal immigration, drug trafficking, gang violence, human smuggling and the compliance of Texas drivers' licenses with the Real ID Act of 2005 were some of the issues the Transportation and Homeland Security committee of the Texas Senate discussed last July 16 at the main branch of the El Paso Public Library Downtown. Seven different panels spoke before the members of the committee, headed by Sen. John Carona (R-Dallas).

The hearing touched on three main areas of concern with large implications for the border region, and in the next few weeks The Prospector will publish a series of articles pertaining to these issues.

This week's article will focus on the construction of a border fence between Mexico and the United States, and in particular, it's impact on this region.

The fence, which is intended to deter illegal border crossings, has been a contested topic in El Paso and elsewhere. The No Border Wall Coalition, a collection of civil organizations such as the Texas Civil Rights Project and Proyecto Azteca, said in a press release the fence's impact in deterring illegal immigration would be minimal, but it does negatively affect border communities and constitutes an attack on immigrants.

UTEP hosted a campus-community forum about the border fence yesterday at the Union. Josiah Heyman, professor of anthropology, moderated the forum of panelists, which included Veronica Escobar, El Paso County commissioner (district two); Fernando Garcia, director of the Border Network for Human Rights; Robert Curry, director of the Center for Environmental Resources Management at UTEP; and Victor Manjarrez Jr., El Paso sector chief for the U.S. Border Patrol. 

The forum, organized by professors from the political science and anthropology departments, was attended by more than 300 people, said Kathleen Staudt, professor of political science and director of the Center for Civic Engagement.

"People are very eager to talk," Staudt said. "I think the kind of questions we saw today imply that people are very against this wall."

The forum addressed several concerns of the El Paso community about the fence, including its impact on the community, its safety and the environment.

Manjarrez emphasized the border fence being built by the current administration provides a tactical advantage to his agency.

"People often tend to make this a debate about illegal immigration when it should be about border security," Manjarrez said. "Without a fence, we would need more than 150,000 patrol agents to secure the border from illegal activities."

On the other hand, Garcia said that the wall is part of a federal policy that focuses solely on enforcement of present laws, disregarding the need for a comprehensive immigration reform that takes into account the human and community elements of security.

Veronica Escobar said she does not believe that a wall is an adequate use of taxpayer dollars, and that El Paso county has joined other border communities in publicly opposing the fence and filing a lawsuit against the federal government. She said a date is still to be determined in the local federal court and the case would be presided over by U.S. District Judge Frank Montalvo.

From the environmental point of view, Curry said the fence would bring mixed results.

"Anything that keeps people out of ecosystems is a benefit; human transit leaves behind trash and roads that disrupt the habitat of species," Curry said. "However, a fence surrounding El Paso would affect the hydrological landscape and the migratory and breeding patterns of wildlife."

Various groups from campus and the community attended the forum. Members of Students for Reform expressed their concern for the construction of a fence.

"The border wall has arrived to our city; I am here because I oppose it," said Alan Jimenez, a freshman philosophy major and vice president of Students for Reform. "I oppose borders anywhere in the world."

On July 12, the Catholic Diocese, backed by several organizations including the Border Human Rights Network and the Catholic Campus Ministry at UTEP, staged an El Vía Crucis de Jesus Migrante, or The Way of the Cross of the Migrant Jesus, in protest of the construction of the fence and to urge authorities to pass comprehensive immigration reform instead.

"Immigrants in the United States are cast out of their homes by economic forces and are received by a country where the legal system is against them," said Marco Raposo, director of the Peace and Justice Ministry of the El Paso Catholic Diocese. "Their struggle is very similar in its spirituality to the theology of the Via Crucis, which is also a path of suffering."

Staudt agrees withh Raposo and feels it is one of President Bush's last acts.

"My sense is that the Department of Homeland Security is desperately trying to finish this wall before this administration leaves," said Staudt. "New thinking will come when the new president takes office, and we desperately need comprehensive immigration reform."

The next article in this series will focus on the Real ID Act and border security.

Isaac Perez may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.