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 News from Around the Americas | October 2007 
Judge Delays Part of Ariz.-Mexico Fence
 Suzanne Gamboa - Associated Press
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| | The Wall separating the US and Mexico |
Washington - A federal judge temporarily delayed construction Wednesday of a 1.5-mile section of a U.S.-Mexico border fence in a wildlife conservation area on the Arizona-Mexico border.
The Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club had requested a 10-day delay in a motion alleging the Bureau of Land Management and other agencies failed to conduct a thorough study of the fence's effects on the environment.
U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle said she granted the delay because the federal government did not explain why it hurried through an environmental assessment and quickly began construction of the fence.
She repeatedly asked the government's attorney, Gregory Page, to explain why the agencies took only three weeks to do the environmental assessment.
She said that amount of time for such a study was unprecedented and said the government was trying to "ram" the environmental study through and start construction "before anyone would wake up."
Huvelle also questioned why equal urgency was not applied to building border fences in Texas and California.
"The reasons for urgency have not been sufficiently explained," Huvelle said.
President Bush signed a law last year ordering the Department of Homeland Security to build 700 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Construction is nearly finished along other parts of the Arizona-Mexico border, but the proposed fence is running into strong opposition in Texas.
Opponents of the fence have said it will interfere with wildlife, disrupt commerce and disturb the bilateral way of life along the border. Supporters say it will curb illegal immigration and is needed for national security.
Page, the government attorney, argued that building the fence at the conservation area would not only address a national security problem but also the environmental problems caused by thousands of illegal immigrants cutting through the conservation area, on foot and car, leaving behind trash and damaging wildlife.
"When you abate a border security problem that itself causes environmental problems, you are acting as a steward of the land," Page said.
Huvelle noted her decision could be made moot by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who can waive all environmental laws to build the fence.
She scheduled a conference call with the parties in the case for Thursday afternoon to determine the next steps. |
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