Mayor threatens suit to block fence

The mayor is exploring legal options to block construction of a border fence in Brownsville.

Already, Mayor Pat M. Ahumada Jr. denied Department of Homeland Security officials a request for access to city land, “for any reason,” as plans for the fence between the Texas-Mexico border progress.

“The City Commission passed a resolution last month against the construction of the border wall,” Ahumada said Wednesday. “Mayors between El Paso and here have united against the wall.”

Plans for the security fence, including a detailed map released this week, show a 102-mile barrier with 70 miles in the Rio Grande Valley and 17 miles cutting through Brownsville.

Construction is scheduled to begin next spring and be completed by December 2008, pending an environmental impact study that’s underway.

Ahumada said he learned that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials released the proposed map on Monday. It shows the fence will stand in local wildlife sanctuaries, on the local college campus and on city-owned properties and parks.

Just last week, he met with Customs representatives who he says told him they did not know where the fence would be built or how many miles were planned in the Valley.

Ahumada said he has consulted with former Hidalgo County Judge Ramon Garcia and Jim Blackburn, specialists in environmental law, to discuss the possibility of filing a lawsuit to block the building plans.

“We would instruct them to stop the building of the wall,” the mayor said and expressed concern that local wildlife and endangered species that thrive along the Rio Grande would be negatively affected.