President Obama’s budget blueprint Thursday shelved extension of the controversial border fence beyond the 670 miles already completed or planned — rejecting the much-heralded security approach orchestrated by former President George W. Bush.
The Obama administration’s turnabout left funds for roads, lights and so-called tactical infrastructure — but not a dime to extend the pedestrian fencing and vehicle barriers erected along roughly a third of the nation’s 1,947-mile border with Mexico.
The top financial officer at the Department of Homeland Security, Peggy Sherry, and her team told reporters Thursday that the Obama administration would not extend a barrier network that has irked neighboring Mexico and raised concerns among immigrant advocates.
Some Texas’ landowners have stubbornly challenged the fence project, denying or delaying federal access to survey their property in legal warfare that prolonged construction along some parts of the border.
As recently as last October, the federal government had completed just a one half-mile section of the 110 miles of pedestrian border fence promised in Texas.
Chad Foster, mayor of Eagle Pass and head of the Texas Border Coalition, welcomed the decision. “We’ve always wanted to stop the fence right where it is,” Foster said.
The Obama administration asked Congress for $779 million for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 for border security-related expenses that included installation of technology, tactical infrastructure and completion of some of the remaining 46 miles of barriers.
That represents a significant drop from the $1.9 billion spent on the same activities by the Bush administration in fiscal 2008 and the $926 million set aside by the outgoing administration for the current fiscal year.
“There are additional funds for implementation, some additional (money for) roads, lights some additional tactical infrastructure,” said one official. “In terms of any particular set (number of) additional miles of fence, there’s nothing specifically identified as money for further miles of fence.”
The Obama administration will continue efforts “to finish up the fencing to get as close to the 670 miles of fence that has been previously identified,” the official said.
SOURCE
Confronted with environmental concerns about proposed border fencing, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff used his power Tuesday to waive dozens of federal laws to clear the way for building it.
Chertoff’s announcement followed a March 3 letter from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official pointing out that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials had abruptly spiked a compromise the agencies were working on to protect an extensive riverfront wildlife refuge affected by a Hidalgo County fence-levee project.
He signed two waivers Tuesday, one of them negating 37 environmental, historic preservation and land management laws to speed 470 miles of fence projects in Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico.
The other, which waived 27 laws, was specific to the 22-mile project in Hidalgo County that Chertoff, on a visit there on Feb. 8, had touted as a win-win plan to shore up worn Rio Grande flood control levees while creating a barrier to unauthorized entry.
Under the 2005 Real ID Act, Congress granted homeland security the authority to waive legal restrictions that could impede efforts to secure the border.
Chertoff that year used waivers for 14 miles of fencing near San Diego, Calif. Last year, he waived regulations for two stretches of fencing in Arizona. But this is the first time he has used a waiver in Texas.
“Criminal activity at the border does not stop for endless debate or protracted litigation,” Chertoff said in a news release Tuesday. “Congress and the American public have been adamant that they want and expect border security. We’re serious about delivering it, and these waivers will enable important security projects to keep moving forward.”
Combining the fence with repairs to the levees had been suggested by local leaders fearful of potentially devastating flood damage, and the idea was quickly backed by U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Hutchison on Tuesday praised Chertoff’s action, calling it a “responsible approach to exercise his legal authority to keep the agreement with Hidalgo County that serves the dual purposes of flood protection and border security.”
Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas said the waiver was “responsive to the needs of our diverse border community.”
But the fence-levee plan is unpopular among environmentalists, who say it will cut off endangered cats and other wildlife from their sole water source in parts of the Lower Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuge. The patchwork of preserves stretches about 275 river miles and is considered one of the most biologically diverse havens in the United States.
“We need for the administration and Congress to hit the pause button here and stop this outrageous, accelerated quest to finish a wall that most people realize not only will not work but will do more damage than good,” anti-fence activist Jay J. Johnson-Castro said.
Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster, chairman of the Texas Border Coalition, issued a statement railing against what he said was “the largest waiver of U.S. environmental laws since the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, and we all know how well that worked out. Just ask the people of Valdez, Alaska.”
Cornyn was reserving comment until he could be fully briefed, said his spokesman, Brian Walsh.
U.S. Reps. Solomon Ortiz and Ciro Rodriguez, both Democrats, expressed outrage. Ortiz called the waivers draconian, and Rodriguez said Chertoff was “selectively ignoring laws and the will of Congress.”
In the March 3 letter to Greg Giddens, executive director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Secure Border Initiative, the wildlife service’s Kenneth Stansell wrote: “We were very concerned that after months of consultations on a proposed project design and reaching consensus on a way forward that satisfies the needs of both wildlife and a secure border, CBP would unilaterally propose a completely new design and request an immediate response from the service.”
He added, “We will continue to work with CBP to develop mitigation alternatives. … We would like to document, however, that any proposed fence and/or levee segment that bisects lands within the Lower Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuge cannot be found compatible with the purposes for which the refuge was established. Therefore, we see the need for (homeland security) to utilize its authority … to waive the National Wildlife Refuge Administration Act of 1966.”
Interior Department spokeswoman Tina Kreisher said that the waiver didn’t mean an end to environmental considerations for the project and said homeland security was prepared to dedicate up to $50 million for mitigation projects.
“As they continue to work on this they’re continuing to do some of things like the environmental assessments that we normally do. It won’t come to a conclusion because they will be exempt from it,” she said
It’s been what, a week now, since the news everyone was talking about was the multi agency raid on Swift Transportations Memphis terminal and truck driving school, or was it the Tennessee Department of Safety, on site license office. Things tend to get blurred when nobody knows anything but everyone’s an expert.
So what’s going on? Is Swift actually planning to cut 3,000 jobs in the next 6 weeks as one commenter suggested?
Is the Securities and Exchange Commission after Jerry Moyes ass again for insider trading or stock manipulation as they were in 2005?
Or perhaps is the State of Tennessee looking for a crooked employee issuing bogus licenses? It appears we’ll have to wait until someone comes out with a press release, someone other than Swift Transportation, that is.
But looking around, I did discover something interesting. This news release from TDHS from last year, shows a roadside operation using basically the same agencies as were present for last weeks “raids”.
The multi-agency event included members of TEMA, TBI, TDOT, TDEC, the Tennessee National Guard, the federal Department of Homeland Security, FBI, ATF, TSA, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, RAD Health and several local police agencies. Nuclear detection devices were utilized at several checkpoints to identify radio-active materials. Three were found but determined to be legal shipments.
Everyone who has been on the road a while is aware of the overkill Tennessee engages in when they go on a tear. Matter of fact, I passed through one of these north of Chattanooga a couple of weeks ago. Didn’t realize it at the time, but was curious about all the trailer’s, various LE vehicles and satelite uplinks in the rest area.
Perhaps this is more of the same but for a different purpose. The whole operation could probably have been conducted with a team of detectives and a search warrant.
So we continue to wait.
The day after a multi agency raid on Swift Transportation offices in Memphis and Millington Tennessee, authorities are keeping quiet on the reason for the raids and Swift management are doing the monkey dance proclaiming their innocence of any wrongdoing.
Seven federal agencies and the Tennessee Highway Patrol raided Swift Transportation’s terminal operations in Memphis and its driver-training school in Millington.
Also, the Tennessee Department of Safety has temporarily closed a commercial driver’s license center housed in Swift’s shipping center on Brooks Road near Memphis International Airport.
Authorities would not confirm whether the probe centers on the commercial licenses issued from the license center on Swift Transportation property.
At that center, state Department of Safety employees administer the written and eye examinations, while Swift personnel conduct the driving-skills tests.
The Department of Safety announced Monday that it was cooperating with the FBI in an “ongoing investigation of Swift Transportation in Memphis.”
Swift officials countered that, despite the search warrants and raid, the company was not the target.
Swift spokesman Dave Berry said, “Swift chooses not to comment any further because we do not want in any way to impede or interfere with the investigation. We’re cooperating in every way.”
No arrest have been made. Evidence seized is still being sorted and cataloged.
In [cref fbi-raids-swift-transportations-memphis-terminal yesterdays post] announcing this event, we had a comment posted, that if true, could shed light on the reason behind this action.
Billy wrote:
I’m a Swift student. We have 5 Muslims in the class trying to get their Hazmat endorsement. Why in this day and age are we allowing this to go on? Any company that does this needs to be investigated. As far as the investigation goes Swift claims that they are not the center of the controversy, but that DMV location is strictly for Swift students. You can’t tell me that Swift doesn’t have some influence over what goes on there.
Good question Billy. If this is the case, this would account for the varied Federal Agencies which are involved in this action.
We’ll continue to keep an eye on the story and report the truth as it becomes available. Already, the trolls of the blogosphere are coming out in mass with the bullshit about illegal aliens (read that Mexican’s, of course. Are there any other kind) being hired and trained by Swift. Of big rig accidents where 9 people were killed by a Swift rig being driven by and “illegal alien”, (not true, never happened by the way) and other xenophobic horse shit.
But that’s normal in today society isn’t it!
UPDATE
Talk about bad reporting and reporting the facts without the facts, I looked at the Fox 13 News Report about this, and discovered where some of the misinformation was coming from. Cori Lake reporting the story mentioned the investigation was triggered by an accident involving a Swift Transportation truck in Ohio being driven by an “illegal alien”. But as she said, “We don’t know where it happened or when it happened” but an illegal alien was involved!
She went on to report that Swift Transportation has a Mexican affiliate called, now get this, NUEVO LAREDO! (Could she have meant TRANS-MEX )
This is how rumors get started folks and of course, the trolls are having a field day with this one. Perhaps Ms Lake should be sent back to the secretarial pool.
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