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June 29, 2008
Border Fence to Divide UT Brownsville
As you know, these bloggers are not big fans of the extension of the border fence along the U.S./ Mexico border. It will increase the border death toll and have minimal effect on the numbers of undocumented immigrants cominbg to the United States. And now AP reports that the that the proposed extension of the fence would cut right through the University of Texas, Brownsville campus and cut off the golf course from the rest of the school. How can that be? The school prides itself on with building ties between the United States and Mexico, with Mexican students, research collaborations, and bilingual classes
KJ
June 29, 2008 | Permalink
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Comments
It is important that we secure our border, Professor Johnson.
Who cares if some rich white guy can no longer play a full 18 holes on the UT campus?
What about the thousands of teenage victims of the illegal immigration methamphetamine trade?
Just what are your priorities, Professor?
You play the soft race card of lowered expectations.
Are you saying that Mexicans of lower economic background cannot make it in our own country?
Thanks for nothing, Professor.
Posted by: Jesus Mora | Jun 29, 2008 1:48:54 PM
Jesus,
As someone who lives on the border just up the road from Brownsville, and about 4 miles from a 0.9 mile long piece of lonely border wall that will be started on July 14, I can tell you that your assessment of the situation is clearly based on ignorance. The UT Brownsville campus is not the only piece of property that will be sliced in half in south Texas. A couple of hundred private landowners have been taken to court to condemn their property. Farmers and ranchers will be cut off from the river that provides the only relieable source of water (this close to the Gulf of Mexico the groundwater is too brackish for wells) that they need to irrigate or water livestock. In some cases their houses will also be behind the wall. There are quite a few people whose homes and property will be entirely behind the wall.
DHS is only offering to pay for the actual footprint of the wall, not its broader impacts. So if your farm is cut in half, and lack of access to your irrigation pumps puts you out of business, too bad. If your home is entirely behind the wall, but the wall does not touch your property, DHS will not pay a dime. Of course there is no way that you will be able to sell your inaccessible property in the future, so your home is now completely worthless. Since the fire department has stated that they might not be willing to put firefighters at risk if there is a brush fire, because the wall might cut off necessary escape routes if a fire gets out of hand, you also will not be able to get insurance.
Posted by: S Nicol | Jun 29, 2008 5:17:12 PM
