Groups Sue to Block Border Fences

A group of environmental organizations filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday aimed at blocking construction of the final portion of a 14-mile project to add two fences along the U.S.-Mexico border to thwart drug smuggling and illegal immigration.

The lawsuit asserts that the project will needlessly destroy sensitive habitat in the region near the Tijuana Estuary, home to 87 plant and animal species.

The plan calls for the two fences to be built parallel to an existing border fence from the ocean to Otay Mesa. Roads would be constructed for Border Patrol agents to use.

“This is a bad idea and the federal government is going to cram it down our throats,” said Bruce Reznik, executive director of San Diego Baykeeper.

Other groups involved in the lawsuit are the Sierra Club, the California Native Plant Society, the San Diego chapter of the Audubon Society and the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) is a major supporter of the so-called triple-fence project, which was authorized by Congress in 1996.

Hunter believes that the fence is important to thwart potential terrorism and protect many of the species the environmentalists want to preserve, said spokesman Michael Harrison.

“It’s also important to recognize that San Diego is home to several important military installations,” Harrison said. “To have an added barrier to prevent entry into this region is important to national security.”

Reznik disagrees. “It will not do anything for national security,” he said.

The first nine-plus miles of the fence project, from south of Imperial Beach to past the San Ysidro border crossing, has been completed at a cost of $10 million. The final 3 1/2-mile stretch may cost closer to $25 million because of the more remote location, officials said.

The lawsuit, filed against U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft and the Department of Homeland Security, comes as the California Coastal Commission has set Feb. 18 to consider the last phase of the project.

The commission’s staff has warned that the project could increase flooding and destroy habitat for the coastal sage scrub bird. The cities of Imperial Beach, National City and Chula Vista, and the San Diego County government, have expressed similar concerns.

“The plan on the table would destroy the whole mesa, along with popular parks and recreation areas,” said local Audubon Society official Jim Peugh.

The environmental groups contend that alternatives, such as fortifying the existing fence, would enhance border control while being less destructive to the ecosystem.

Pedro Rios, an official with the local American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group that supports the rights of all migrants, said the fences will “only appease people who have a fear and paranoia about migration.”

But Ben Seeley, executive director of the San Diego-based Border Solutions Task Force, an anti-illegal immigration group, dismissed the lawsuit as frivolous.

“They’re not environmentalists; they’re obstructionists,” Seeley said.

“I got into this subject because I am an environmentalist, and I realize the more people we have in California, the worse it is for the environment.”