Focus on the Border Fence: Granjeno Deals with Border Fence Construction

August 14, 2008 · In the town of Granjeno, south of McAllen, the question isn’t if or when the Border Fence is coming. The barrier being built there right now.

Step outside the front door of the town’s city hall, and there’s a view of heavy machinery, bull dozers, cranes and concert mixers making permanent changes to the landscape.

What is happening exactly? The town’s mayor, 24-year old Vicente Garza Jr., says he has few answers.

“What is it going to look like? How is it going to be? We try to find information ourselves, you know. It should be the government's responsibility to where we should receive the information and have something ready to give the public,” Garza said.

The construction is happening on the town’s flood levee. There is a row of giant steel beams sticking out of the top of the earthen mound - looking like a massive metal spine.

Those beams are temporary – they are shoring up the levee as the side that faces Mexico is dug out to be reinforced with rebar and concert.

All this construction is happening only feet away from Daniel Garza backyard fence. Garza is the mayor’s uncle.
The 74-year-old says the cloud of dust and noise has upset him and his pet Chihuahua, Tiny.

“Working around the clock here. We just can’t afford to breath that dust. It goes into your lungs, and I’m a sick man,” said Daniel Garza.

But as much as he dislikes the construction, he says it’s better than the original fence plan that would have built it where his house stands. And Garza refuses to be evicted from his own home.

“I was born and raised here, and I’m going to stay here,” he said.

Garza’s adamant decision to fight DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff is not what convinced Homeland Security to leave his house standing. It was a deal struck by Hidalgo County to use the funds for the border fence to reinforce 22 miles of levees.

County Judge J.D. Salinas says the levees will hold back the floodwaters, while also creating an 18-foot high concrete wall that re-directs illegal immigration.

“It’s not a perfect project. Its something that in lieu of taking private property and in lieu of a fence that’s not going to work anyway. This is was a compromise if you will between the federal government and us locally to try to build something that’s at least going to protect the area from flooding in the future,” Salinas said.

But local anti-border wall activists like Ann Cass, a member of the Texas Coalition, don’t see it that way.
She alleges this is a compromise that didn’t have to happen because FEMA which is part of the department of homeland security miss-used its authority to declare the levees unsafe.

“FEMA tells our county judge if we don’t fix our levees then our entire county will be declared a flood zone. And then Chertoff comes in the back door and tells our county judge – I’m really sorry I know you don’t have any money to fix your levees and I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll fix 22 miles of your levees by putting this wall up,” she said.

Cass and others who oppose the border fence say the levee Wwall is just as harmful if not worse for local wildlife, like the endangered ocelot.

But their main complaint is that the entire argument about the wall is unnecessary and because it’s bad public policy.

“It’s unjust. It’s racist. It’s using a whole lot of money that we’d prefer to see used on health care, housing. We know it’s not a solution and we think congress needs to get serious about immigration reform,” Cass said.

County Judge Salinas agrees that congress must move forward with comprehensive immigration reform.
And he’s keeping his fingers crossed that congress doesn’t come back mandating more miles of border fence construction.

“Are they going to have more round of fencing? I hope not. I hope that the Washington reconsiders what they are doing – and that they give us the money to fix the levees period,” said Salinas.

Salinas says he did the best he could for his county given the circumstances.

In fact, Cameron County his border neighbor to the southeast is now scrambling to secure a similar levee wall deal with Homeland Security.