The Yale Globalist - Amigos, Divided

Amigos, Divided
Along the Texas-Mexico border, security fencing impacts more than illegal immigration.

Wednesday, 29 October 2008 | Catherine Cheney

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Robert Gonzales, general manager of the Eagle Pass Water Works System, originally fought against the fence, but now that construction is underway, he is working with DHS to assure the water intake system is preserved.

“There is no question that most everybody would not want to have the wall, but how we feel and think about it versus how we can address it in the best, most sensible way are obviously two different things,” Gonzales said. “If we’re going to get it one way or another, we might as well look into the seriousness of it and how we’re going to try to adjust.”

Rick Chisum, an Eagle Pass resident who leases the land that holds the biweekly flea market near the bridge to Piedras Niegras, is considering how he will adapt to the changes the fence will bring.

“My business will be affected in the sense that the Mexicans will not feel as welcome,” Chisum said. “I was thinking about putting a pole in the market with the Mexican flag to encourage the people on the other side of the border that we are with them.

Division versus Diplomac

While Gonzales and Chisum work to adjust to a new reality in Eagle Pass, the debate over the fence continues among politicians and diplomats who fear the effect it will have on the relationship between Mexico and the United States.

“A fence alone won’t protect us from those who want to harm us,” said Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the Commit- tee on Homeland Security of the U.S. House of Representatives. “Even DHS has come to realize that we need an integrated approach that combines personnel, equipment, technology and infrastructure.”

Meanwhile, Juan Manuel Nungaray, minister of North American Relations for the Office of Foreign Affairs in Mexico City, emphasized the importance of diplomacy, rather than division, in Mexican-American relations.

“The fence is only a political move,” he said. “The U.S. government knows they need immigration, but this is a concession to con- servatives before the 2008 election to show them that they are doing something about immigration.”

Nungaray continued, “The wall will not curb immigration. People will pass through difficult pathways, which will lead to more deaths, but they will continue to go because many can make a better life for themselves there.”

Nungaray, whose three brothers immigrated to the U.S., said the upcoming administration must consider its relationship with Mexico to be a cooperative partnership of supply and demand.

“Somos vecinos y amigos,” he said, extending his hand. “We are neighbors and friends.”

Handshakes and Heartaches

In northern Mexico, Mayor Foster shared a handshake and a hug with Jesus Mario Flores Garza, then-mayor of Piedras Negras, as they sat down to discuss the fence.

“The relationship between Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras will definitely change,” Garza said. “Our customs come from many years of being united, and our ways of life will not be the same.”

“This is una verguenza,” Foster said. “A disgrace.” “I respect the rights of the U.S. to protect itself, but there are many ways besides walls to protect a country,” Garza, a close colleague and friend of Foster, continued.“Walls have long been a part of history, and they always fall, they always fail.”

Catherine Cheney is a junior Political Science and International Studies double major in Trumbull College and a senior editor for the Globalist.

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