Texas’ Rio Grande Valley Is The “Point Of Lasting Stubbornness” Against Border Wall

The San Antonio Express reports this week that citizens of the Rio Grande Valley of Texas are the last American hold-outs against the Mexican border wall.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has a color map showing the progress on a border fence that isn’t quite done — with the Rio Grande Valley the point of lasting stubbornness. Many in the Valley sport “No Border Wall” bumper stickers on their cars, and hundreds have showed up to protest what’s seen as an insult to Mexicans who fill their stores and restaurants. Environmentalists fear the yet-unknown impact on at least two nature preserves that will be cut off by the fence and say it will disrupt one of the nation’s last habitats for rare wildcats.

In a region accustomed to being overlooked, the border wall issue has created activists amongst previously unassuming civilians and it’s working in at least two cases. The government’s original plan in the city of Brownsville has been cancelled in lieu of simply repairing an already existing wall near the University of Texas at Brownsville. (The original plan cut off part of the campus and completely circumvented a municipal golf course.) And in another location nearby, 22 miles of reinforced levee will replace plans to build a wall altogether. Then there’s the 14.2 miles in sections of Rio Grande City, Roma and Los Ebanos where building has been delayed due to what the government calls engineering difficulties. Now, word on the street is that the Wall Street bail out has put an unofficial moratorium on any building left to be done. Bureaucracy: it’s not just for the government anymore.

Valley still barrier to border fence [MySA]