BONITA : Last Gap in Border Fence to Be Closed
A half-mile gap in a solid steel fence being built along the U.S.-Mexico border will be filled now that the federal government has agreed to pay $500 per year to the holdout landowner.
The lease will allow Army Reserves engineers to close the gap within days in the barricade being erected to halt smugglers of drugs and illegal aliens, U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter said Tuesday.
The 10-foot-high fence, now 9 miles long, will stretch 14 miles from the Pacific Ocean to the San Ysidro Mountains when completed.
Although other border property owners agreed to allow the fence, Curtis Corn of Bonita blocked the section of work crossing his 25 acres. Corn filed a lawsuit contending that the government must pay for a 20-foot easement needed to build the fence along his property, which is near the Rodriquez International Airport across the border in Tijuana, Mexico.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service has agreed to a four-year lease. In 1996, the INS and Corn will have to negotiate a new lease to maintain the fence, or the government will have to condemn an easement, Hunter said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
