Members of Congress to discuss fence at UTB this morning

BROWNSVILLE - The U.S.-Mexico border fence's construction may only be weeks away, but a Congressional hearing Monday underscored how much of a hot-button issue it still is in Washington.

Eight congressmen held a five-hour hearing at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, taking turns between being both caustic and politically correct.

U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., introduced the hearing, "Walls and Waivers," as a forum on the expedited construction of the border fence and its affect on the environment along the border.

"To examine the history, culture, economics of the border and then to decide the only solution is a 700-mile fence," Grijalva said in opening remarks, "is simply a failure of leadership."

U.S. Reps. Tom Tancredo, R-Col., and Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., both former 2008 presidential hopefuls, disagreed.

Hunter referred to the success of a double fence in his district, on the border between San Diego and Tijuana.

"Our fence put the border gangs out of business because they lost their ability to move back and forth," said Hunter, who authored the Secure Fence Act of 2006.

Tancredo took issue with what he called "landowners' multi-culturalist views on the border."

"If you don't like the idea (of a fence), maybe you should consider building the fence around the northern part of your city," Tancredo said amid jeers from the audience.

Perhaps the most substantial opposition to the barrier came from U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, U.S. Border Patrol chief in the early 1990s of what was then the McAllen sector. He called the fence a waste of the government's resources.

"For 10 percent of the border we need to consider the potential for fencing," he said. "I certainly don't think we need 700 miles of fencing."

Ronald Vitiello, current Border Patrol chief of what is now the Rio Grande Valley sector, said the barrier will decrease border crossings - but only if it is complemented with a boots-on-the-ground effort.

Reyes said of Vitiello, "He's going to toe the party line - he's got to if he wants to maintain his job as chief of the sector."

To the dismay of the eight Congressional representatives, the fence's architects at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security declined an invitation to the hearing. Their absence left a number of questions unanswered.

"We'll seek out these answers in Washington," Grijalva said after the hearing.

The presence of 13 witnesses, many of whom live and work along the border, marked the convergence of a national political debate and a local dilemma.

"We need federal legislation that will protect borders in a humane and Christian way," said Bishop Raymundo J. Peña, who oversees the Archdiocese of Brownsville.

"It isn't really a border to most of us who live down here," added Betty Perez, a local landowner and activist.

The other Congressional members in attendance were U.S. Reps. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, whose district includes Brownsville; Grace Napolitano, D-Calif, a native of Brownsville; Delegates Madeleine Bordallo, D-Guam, and Faleoman Vaega, D-American Samoa.

"Nothing is going to change until immigration policy is taken care of," Napolitano said. "The fence is ludicrous."