House Votes to Plug Gap in Fence Between California and Mexico

California’s congressional delegation split mostly along party lines Thursday on whether to give the federal government the power to override the California Coastal Commission and complete a 3.5-mile gap in the border fence between San Diego and Tijuana.

The delegation’s Republicans -- led by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee -- said the gap was a yawning hole in America’s defenses through which terrorists, smugglers and illegal immigrants can enter the country.

But several of California’s Democratic House members argued that the state’s authority to oversee the fence project -- and perhaps block it -- should not be usurped.

The dispute occurred during debate over a larger bill that, in addition to giving the federal government the power to complete the border fence, would attempt to force states to stop issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants and tighten the criteria for granting asylum.

The larger bill passed, 261 to 161, with the fence provision intact. But the legislation faces an uphill battle in the Senate.

The debate over the border fence was carried out largely between California’s Democrats and Republicans, who squared off on the House floor for nearly an hour.

The Democrats found themselves in the position of defending the prerogatives of Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarz- enegger.

“This is not an argument about whether to build a fence,” said Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice). “It is about what process should be used, and this process is dead wrong.”

Harman said the bill, which would give the secretary of Homeland Security the power to order the completion of border fences anywhere in the nation, would set “a dangerous precedent of placing a single federal official” above state laws and judicial review.

At a news conference in San Diego on Thursday after the bill passed, Schwarzenegger said the California fence should be completed, but in a way that is sensitive to the environment. He said a solution could be hammered out that satisfies state environmentalists and federal lawmakers.

“I think we can do both together,” Schwarzenegger said.

The federal government built a chain-link fence decades ago along the 66-mile San Diego border sector, but much of it has been destroyed or damaged. In 1996, work began on fortifying more than 10 miles of the fence stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the San Ysidro Mountains.

“Environmental groups have successfully fought the completion of this fence over the years,” said Rep. Edward R. Royce (R-Fullerton). The question now, he said, is “who should be in charge of national security -- the California Coastal Commission or the secretary of Homeland Security.”

Environmentalists argue that the federal government’s plan for plugging the hole would be an ecological disaster in an estuary rich with plant and animal life. The federal plan calls for carving huge amounts of dirt from nearby mesas and filling in canyons to create an earthen berm on which a fence and border patrol road would be built parallel to the old chain-link fence.

The California Coastal Commission and the federal government have failed to agree on the fence’s design.

All 20 House Republicans from California voted against an unsuccessful amendment offered by Rep. Sam Farr (D-Carmel) to strip the fence provision from the overall bill. Joining them were two Democrats -- Reps. Dennis A. Cardoza of Atwater and Jim Costa of Fresno.

Joining Farr in backing his amendments were 27 California Democrats. Three others did not vote: Reps. Anna G. Eshoo of Atherton, Michael M. Honda of San Jose and Loretta Sanchez of Anaheim.

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Curtius reported from Washington, Marosi from San Diego.