Shrub's border wall gives Rio Grande River to Mexico, slashes through wildlife refuges & parks

[UTUSN]

One of the technicalities of international affairs is that national borders extend to the middle of such natural features as rivers. Not that Shrub respects niceties like SOVEREIGNTY-- not that of others, and now not OURS!!1 His border fence cannot be built in the middle of the river, so it will be built NORTH of the river, a de facto gifting of territory back to Mexico (from whence it came to begin with). Not to mention performing a Psycho slashing into wildlife refuges, parks, and, yes (for the Jerome CORSI Superhighway crowd) private property.

Shrub is no stranger to appropriating private property for the benefit of his developer buds, as he did in Arlington, TX, while he was the Weak-governor-system placeholder. (It still burns that our crack investigative media didn't follow up on Molly IVINS's detailed clues to Shrub's sorry record in 2000, 'cause they were too man-crushed with his bully "Don't mess with Texas" farting.)

For exquisitely beautiful pictures of the affected birds in the refuges, I hope DUer Maestro will re-post his website.

*******QUOTE*******

http://www.themonitor.com/news/fence_5338___article.html/border_land.html

Border fence details unveiled

.... For some organizations, such as University of Texas at Brownsville — which once stood to lose a portion of its campus to the Mexican side of the fence — the new plan was a pleasant surprise.

But for the dozens of landowners who own property along the proposed barrier line, the new maps seemed to confirm their worst fears.

“I knew it all along,” Roma City Alderman Noel Benavides said. “They went through the motions of asking our opinion, but they weren’t ever going to change their plan.” ....

Individual segments might range from approximately one mile to more than 13 miles, but would largely follow the natural barrier of the International Boundary and Water Commission’s levee system, the document states.

The fence also crosses privately-owned rural and urban land and is expected to encroach on portions of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge and several Texas state parks. ....

In all, the access roads, cleared vegetation and grading is expected to impact more than 500 acres of land surrounding each segment of the fence.

Not on my land
Although he is still no fan of any border fence, Tony Zavaleta, UTB’s vice president for external affairs, was relieved to learn Monday that the newest proposal appeared to keep his Brownsville campus intact. ....

********UNQUOTE*******

http://www.borderfencenepa.com/wp-content/uploads/general-locations-of-ti-in-lower-rio-grande-valley.pdf


Sign the petition!!1 Here:
http://notexasborderwall.com/

[Reno.Muse]

1. this gives new meaning to the visits that Bush has made to Mexico

..some backdoor negotiating?

[ThatsMyBarack]

4. Welcome to DU, Reno.Muse!

:patriot:

[displacedtexan]

2. Typical.

Truly heavy sigh.

[Debau2005]

5. Agreed....

I am tired...just exhausted...when is this going to stop? First thing I read this morning is about Schip and children's health care. Now this?

I know history will judge this administration poorly, but can we wait that long?

My mother fears that when my elderly dog passes, I am going to fulfill my promise to join the Peace Corps, and right now it may just be what I need to regain my perspective.

[displacedtexan]

7. Go for it!

What a great cause to join!

Keep me posted, OK? I'm a great letter writer!

Delilah

[Debau2005]

11. Thanks!

It has been my life's dream, and it may be coming time to make that dream a reality!

My mother threatens to bring me a new puppy to get attached to! :hippie:

[displacedtexan]

12. Don't get me wrong. Puppies are amazing!

But you can get a puppy after living your dream for a while.

I've always regretted not joining the Peace Corps. My brother had a great experience,
teaching English in Kenya.

[madokie]

3. we don't need a fence or a wall we need to stop hiring undocumented workers

thats all.

I am not advocating this to open myself up to ridicule or flames, I'm just stating how I personally feel.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. I agree with you

Let's go after the reason they come instead of building a wall.

[madokie]

16. I don't blame anyone for wanting to come to the United States of America

If I wasn't here already I would be right in the middle of them. But by coming in illegally they open themselves up to being taken advantage of, trust me there are a lot of employers who will do just that, and working for a much lower wage. The disadvantage they put themselves into by coming in illegally puts a hardship on the rest of us US citizens who must work to make a living. There's been many good paying construction jobs in this area alone that have been lost to this and for that alone I take the stance I take. Our state has passed a new law that is I think a step in the right direction, that is if it will be enforced. :hi:



http://oklahomaimmigrationlaw.com/index.html

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Enforcement is the key, isn't it?

:hi:

[madokie]

28. comes down to those who are entrusted to protect us not doing their jobs

on so many levels, just like our congress critters not doing theirs and impeaching these, for the lack of a better word, Traitors who has hijacked our government. How will I explain to my months old Grand Daughter as to what happened here in a few years when she starts asking questions. hopefully we will have solved our problem by then. I refuse at this point in time to entertain even a smidgen of an idea that we've already lost so might as well give up, it just ain't gonna happen with me as long as I still have breath. Plus I took an oath once too some 40 years ago thats still just as relevant today to me as it was then.
I think if we all hang together there's nothing we can't accomplish for the good of all People, no matter who or where.
:hug:

[PDenton]

6. I don't see a problem

Nobody relishes making a border fence, but what other option is there? If a person is not authorized to be in the US, then he doesn't belong here and the government should take whatever steps necessary to keep illegal immigrants out.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. How about not letting employers hire them?

Do you know how many times Tyson Foods has been fined for hiring undocumented workers and how many times they have appealed to avoid paying the fine?

Do you realize how many corporations (like Tyson) and smaller businesses send buses to Mexico to help workers cross the border?

Do you know how many employers help workers get SS cards and IDs so they can pretend they are citizens?

Tough enforcement of existing laws that prohibit all of these practices is a lot less expensive than building a wall.

[Igel]

10. First, take away the plausible excuses emploers use.

Make sure there's some way for the employer to know that a person isn't authorized to work. I've been in charge of verifying documents. Was that Virginia driver's license valid? Is this social security card, so unlike mine and the one presented by the 30-something I hired last month, *really* valid? This non-drivers-license non-photo ID from Nevada ... do they *really* look like this? And this H-whatever visa, never saw one before, is it really what it says it is?

Seriously, I'd take whatever the worker offered, examine it for obvious fraud, and then make a copy to cover my ass. Why? Because I was *also* told that if I spent extra time checking into the documentation provided by one "American citizen" based on his language skills or ethnic background and *didn't* do similar research on the guy with the Kansas accent and whose grandmother's diary entries about immigrating into the US I helped translate, I and my employer could be sued for discimination.

Many DUers call for fining employers. But it'll take some time to build a verification system. * is trying to adapt one--and make employers/government fix it by spotting problems in a current system, rather than building a new one from scratch (one that would, no doubt, be little better).

The response in Illinois:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/25/washington/25immig.html?ref=us

It was a response similar to that in California. We must fine employers who break the law and hire illegal immigrants; we probably should not fine employers who hire illegal immigrants by mistake; but we must not allow employers to be able to verify that a worker is properly documented.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. We also need to force employers to pay fines

instead of these non-stop appeals.

[PDenton]

13. That's fair enough, employers who hire illegals should be

punished but I don't see any reason to object to trying to physically interdict them at the border as well.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. I don't support any plans that demonize human beings

who are just trying to survive. NAFTA has destroyed the economies in many Central American countries so those people, because they are hungry and can't survive, come here. Economic aid would go a long way toward solving our immigration crisis. So would fair wage legislation and fair labor practices. Those are win win solutions.

[PDenton]

17. I agree that more needs to be done about poverty

in Central and South America... however, just what is Mexico doing for their share? Poverty is ingrained into the Mexican system. Except for Mexico City, abortion is illegal in almost all cases. The greedy plutocracy in charge is not interested in sharing the country's wealth with the masses. The very risk-takers that are crossing the border are the ones that should be pressing for change in Mexico. We are doing no favors to the Mexican people if we allow the United States to be a safety valve for failed Mexican social policies.

Plus, the exodus cycle that open borders creates, tends to gut Mexican towns. With fewer young people in rural areas, there is less reason to stay in a given location. It creates a ghost-town effect.

I realize we have a duplicitous president who answers only to anti-progressive interests, but that is no reason that we should throw our hands up in the air and lay all the blame on the US, nor does the US have to take on every economic refugee that comes our way. It is a slap in the face to every American citizen that somebody who wasn't born in this country gets free healthcare and accomodations, all because they broke the law. That is unjust, as unjust as whatever the Mexican government does to its own people.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. No one who wasn't born here gets free health care or

accomodations.

Let's get the facts correct before we decide how to solve the problem. ONLY US citizens get free health care and only the ones who meet income guidelines. If you aren't a citizen, you don't get any health care for free. I teach the children of undocumented immigrants and could tell you stories that would make you cry about the lack of health care for these kids and their families.

They also don't get food stamps or HUD housing or unemployment or Social Security. Not if they aren't US citizens.

[yardwork]

24. Thank you for this post. This is the truth.

It's a myth that "illegal immigrants" are using up our resources. It's a lie designed to distract people from the fact that their jobs have been outsourced and they have no health care.

We don't lack health care in the U.S. because of illegal immigrants. We lack health care because our government chooses to spend billions on a war in Iraq and very little on caring for its citizens.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. Can I nominate your post?

:)

[yardwork]

27. Sure. Thanks!

[yardwork]

23. How in the world will a fence stop illegal immigration?

Are we going to create a dead zone like the one that used to run through Berlin, manned by men with machine guns 24/7? Along the entire Mexico-United States border? And even if that did work, what about all our other borders?

Building a fence is a fool's dream. A dream for Halliburton to make millions on a no-bid contract. That's all it is.

If we really want to stop illegal immigration, stop corporations from hiring illegal immigrants. People wouldn't risk their lives to come here if they didn't get hired.

[Solon]

29. So you prefer wasting money, rather than finding workable solutions?

A fence or wall ain't going to do shit, we all know that, so let's waste billions of dollars on it. And I thought Repukes bitched at Democrats for "throwing money at the problem".

[Maestro]

32. And the fence will fix this?

Please.

How about this crooked government actually trying to persecute the employers who continue to employ them at slave wages and no benefits? Because doing this still saves them money even when slapped on the wrist with a fine by the government. These good people come to work because they know there is work. They do not come to take jobs away. They know they can find something and so they come. If work weren't available they would not come.

[Cleita]

19. Such an important post.

Thanks UTUSN. K&R

[Canuckistanian]

21. I hope Mexico strikes oil on the reclaimed land

Actually, I think Mexico would be a better steward of the land.

At least there would be no danger of millionaire developers bulldozing the land.

[Cleita]

22. Uhmmm, no. Their millionaire developers would move right in,

cut a deal with the US to keep them out of their business and proceed to make lots of money with all the cheap labor they have.

[pitohui]

25. canuckistan has never been to mexico!

or maybe it's a humor posting?

[UTUSN]

30. Found: DUer Maestro's website with pics taken in the area the fence will cross

The first link is his website. The 2nd directly features wildlife in the affected area. The 3rd is a thread of his in the Lounge.

http://www.capture-the-pixel.com/

http://www.capture-the-pixel.com/popular/1/165015032#165015032

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x6963954

[Maestro]

31. The ocelot would be severely affected by this stupid

wall! The ocelot is very endangered in the US and is only found in a few areas including Laguna Atascosa NWR, but Santa Ana NWR is even closer to the dumb fence affecting movements of these animals, breeding and cutting off needed genetic pools. I wish I had more pictures of the mammals and reptiles that will be affected. I only have birds which are certainly more mobile but with the wall comes more patrolling and more distruption of habitat. In fact several of the best birding places in Texas are located near the Rio Grande!

I've signed this petition. It is important. It won't solve the problem and it is disruptive.

Thanks for recognizing me UTUSN.

I'll leave with another few shots from the Valley.

Remember these birds....

Roseate Spoonbill, South Padre Island

Crested Caracara, King Ranch

Plain Chachalaca, Laguna Atascosa NWR (This bird is pretty much only seen in the Valley and the wall will probably cut it off from its genetic pool in Mexico since it is not a strong flier and does not migrate.) The Northern Bobwhite is in a similar situation.

Yellow billed cuckoo, Laguna Atascosa NWR

[UTUSN]

33. Kick for absolutely breathtaking pics!!1 n/t

[Maestro]

34. Thanks again. And more people need to sign.

As we know, the current repig government in Texas is pushing for this wall and city governments all over Texas are using racial profiling to split families deporting some undocumented workers but worse picking up Hispanics until they can prove they are legal! It's disgusting. The city where I work is currently doing this but it is not the only one. The "Wall" goes right along with the ignorant "solutions" proposed by government!

[begin_within]

35. Thank you for mentioning the ocelot!

[Maestro]

36. My pleasure

I would love to be able to photograph one in the wild!