Texas Universities Accuse U.S. of Violating Agreement on Border Fence

June 20, 2008
Texas Universities Accuse U.S. of Violating Agreement on Border Fence

The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College filed a motion in federal court on Thursday accusing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of violating an agreement to consider alternatives to a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, The Brownsville Herald reported.

The motion, which was also signed by the University of Texas system, says the federal government has been moving ahead with plans for a controversial fence aimed at curbing illegal immigration and drug smuggling without adequately considering alternatives.

A federal judge signed off on a compromise agreement in March between the joint border universities and the government that gave federal surveyors access to the campuses while the department considered border-control strategies that respected the universities’ “unique status as an institution of higher learning.”

The universities have argued that the planned fence would disrupt the universities and interfere with efforts to break down cultural and educational barriers between Mexico and the United States. —Katherine Mangan

http://chronicle.com/news/article/4711/texas-universities-accuse-us-of-violating-agreement-on-border-fence?commented=1#c019371