McALLEN — McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez wants there to be no doubt on which side of the border fence debate he stands.

“We are going to build a fence so we don’t have to see our neighbor,” he said, “… it is an

ill-fated idea.”

Rodriguez was one of many on Monday who aired their concerns with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s plans for a border fence during the newly formed Texas Border Security Council’s first meeting.

Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson, who sits on the council, tried to steer the discussion back to the state’s role in border affairs.

“We’re not building a fence here, that’s a federal obligation. And we’re not stopping immigration here, that’s a federal issue,” he said. “We’re focused on border security and economic security.”

Most of the $111 million that state legislators allocated for border security during its most recent session will go toward improving security technology and equipment, as well as more funding for additional payroll for security officers along the Mexico border and the Gulf Coast, Wilson said.

“This is a brand new deal,” he said. “We’ve never had this kind of funding focused on border security to take that initiative and be proactive about it.”

But because the fence is a federal project, Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos said the council could do nothing to stop the feds’ plans.

“A lot of these issues are overlapping and blurry issues,” said Cascos, the council’s presiding officer. “Even though we have no jurisdiction over the wall issue or immigration … we’re going to listen, but there’s nothing we can directly do.”

Concerns about illegal drug smuggling; human trafficking; how to dispose of seized drugs; public health; coastal security; and many others came to light as the council made its first stop on a three-city fact finding tour of the border.

There are forums scheduled for Tuesday in Laredo and Wednesday in El Paso. The council is expected to give its final recommendations to Perry by late spring, Wilson said.

Most of the 11 speakers at the forum said local border security officials need better equipment and more staff to secure the region.

The state can help the McAllen Police Department with how to dispose of seized illegal drugs, which currently costs the department 50 cents per pound to destroy at the nearest facility, located in Beaumont.

“Often, we seize a ton of drugs,” he said. “On one hand, we feel great and on another we wonder how we are going to pay for the destruction of these drugs.”

Texas Homeland Security Director Steven McCraw said more widespread drug and human trafficking has put the state in a position where it needs to help the federal government secure its southern and coastal borders.

“Texans feel threatened in some of those areas, where now inside that economic emigrate you have embedded transnational gangs and people who are clearly opportunistic criminals,” he said.

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Jared Taylor covers Edinburg, the Delta region and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.