Border fence dispute brings Texas showdown

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/17/border.fence/index.html

This article is about a woman who will not allow the government to survey her property and put up a border fence on her land. The Secretary of Homeland Security thinks that the fence needs to be put up since parts of the Rio Grande are small enough to cross.

"On the banks of the river there is ample evidence that people do so. Piles of underwear lie discarded by swimmers after they make it across. The swimmers change into dry clothes they have carried across in plastic bags. Then they disappear into the United States."

Meanwhile, "Richard Cortez, the mayor of the border town of McAllen, Texas, believes hiring more Border Patrol agents, deepening the Rio Grande, and clearing its banks of tall vegetation would provide better border protection than the fence. Cortez calls the fence 'a multibillion-dollar speed bump,' which will slow, but not stop, illegal immigration. 'It is a false sense of security,' he said. 'America will not be safe. America will continue to waste resources on something that is not going to work.'"

Still, the Border Protection does not want to stop the construction of these fences.

Go to the article to watch a video of Michael Chertoff, the Secretary of Homeland Security, talk about the civic responsibility to give up land.