CBP: Border fence won't be finished on time

Border fence construction will extend beyond original deadlines and cost millions of dollars more than first thought, government officials conceded Wednesday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Ralph Basham blamed rising construction costs and problems acquiring private land in South Texas for the delays and said his agency would need at least another $400 million to complete the project.

His comments come after a nearly three-year insistence that the 670-mile project would be finished by Dec. 31.

"We face many challenges in meeting our goal," he told the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday.

Basham's statements caught leaders off guard in the Rio Grande Valley, where almost 50 miles of fencing are slated to go up in Starr and Cameron counties and progress has already begun on a combined levee-wall project in Hidalgo County.

"Until we are told otherwise, we are moving forward," Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas said. "We are still trying to meet that deadline of Dec. 31."

RISING COSTS

At best, Basham said, his agency could only reasonably expect to start working on the remaining 326 miles of planned fencing by the time President Bush leaves office. As of last month, only 341 miles had been completed.

In the Valley, contractors have only begun to build four sections of Hidalgo County's levee-wall project. Construction of the region's 17 other fence segments has not yet moved beyond the planning stages.

Rising costs of fuel, labor and construction equipment have contributed to the slow progress and expanding price tag, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

A recent construction boom in Texas has forced contractors to pay top dollar to attract laborers, and finding enough concrete and steel to build here has proven problematic.

But critics of the plan have pointed to a number of expenses elsewhere that they consider wasteful.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently paid nearly $50 million to have a canyon in California filled in so the fencing could be built over the chasm.

Plans also call for more than 12 miles of fencing in Roma and Rio Grande City that could be removed in the event of a hurricane. That additional feature is expected to drive up costs significantly.

"DHS failure to appropriately supervise and control construction costs is reaching legendary status," said Texas Border Coalition President Chad Foster, an outspoken critic of the fence.

Comprised of border mayors, county judges and local economic development officials, the coalition advocates on behalf of communities along the Texas-Mexico border on issues that affect the quality of life in the region. It has been a stalwart opponent of the border fence initiative.

COURTHOUSE QUAGMIRE

Ongoing court battles over land acquisition also threaten to delay construction start dates for the barrier.

The U.S. Department of Justice has initiated condemnation proceedings against hundreds of acres of private land - mostly in Texas. Of the 122 property owners who have so far refused to sell, 97 live in the Valley.

Citing reasons such as inaccurate surveys, confusion over where the fence would go, and a lack of communication with government officials, landowners here have fought off seizure efforts.

Brownsville-based U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen has indicated he will eventually grant the government access to most of the land it seeks, but he has refused to rush proceedings in the interest of meeting the December deadline.

No initial court date has been set for more than 75 of the outstanding land suits, according to a GAO statement submitted to Congress on Wednesday.

POLITICAL FUTURES

To meet its deadline, CBP officials estimate all remaining fencing segments must be under construction by the end of this month - a projection that now seems unrealistic.

A delay of even a few weeks would shift responsibility for overseeing the project's completion onto the next presidential administration.

And while both Democratic nominee Barack Obama and his Republican counterpart, John McCain, voted for the fence as U.S. senators, it remains unclear whether they still maintain those positions.

Neither campaign has responded to requests to discuss their plans for the fence.

But the candidates' Senate colleague John Cornyn, R-Texas, called on the Bush administration Wednesday to provide a full account of the delays. A supporter of the fence plan, Cornyn helped broker the accord that led to the levee-wall compromise in Hidalgo County

"DHS has been telling Congress for several months that construction was proceeding on schedule," his spokesman Brian Walsh said. "Needless to say, (Wednesday's revelation) has raised a number of eyebrows on Capitol Hill."

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Monitor staff writer Jackie Leatherman contributed to this report.