Marines Taking Over Road-Fence Project at Border

The Marine Corps will take over construction of a security system of roads and fences stretching 14 miles along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The project will coincide with the installation of high-intensity floodlights in canyons long used by border bandits to prey on undocumented aliens, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gustavo de la Vina said Monday.

Elements of Wing Support Squadron 371, based at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., will replace California National Guard construction units that began work on the road network in December.

They will also replace Navy Seabee reservists who have been building a welded, 12-foot-tall border fence.

The Marines are trained to use heavy construction equipment to build roads and aircraft runways in combat zones, a spokesman for the Yuma air station said.

Sections of the border fence--west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry--and the new sections of road have already channeled undocumented border crossers into areas where they can be caught more easily, De la Vina said.

“The fence, coupled with the road work, has increased our mobility considerably,” he said. “As the old fence is being replaced, the patterns of the crossers are changing.”

De la Vina said the effectiveness of the new fence sections is reflected in increased apprehensions of undocumented border crossers. About 250,000 border jumpers have been caught so far this year.