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1 (January 13, 2005)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthaaajx0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 
                                                                Order Code RS22026
                                                                    January 13, 2005



 CRS Report for Congress
              Received through the CRS Web



         Border Security: Fences Along the
                 U.S. International Border

                            Bias Nuhez-Neto
                       Analyst in Social Legislation
                     Domestic Social Policy Division

                            Stephen R. Viha
                            Legislative Attorney
                         American Law Division

Summary

     This report outlines the issues involved with the Department of Homeland
 Security's (DHS's) completion of a three-tiered, 14-mile fence, along the border near
 San Diego, California. The state of California has delayed completion of the fence due
 primarily to legal and policy conflicts with its federally-approved, state-run Coastal
 Management Program. Current authorization for the fence only allows the waiver of the
 Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. During the 108th
 Congress, a variety of proposals were introduced that would have allowed the
 department to waive a number of other environmental, conservation, and cultural laws
 and requirements to varying degrees. Similar proposals are likely to surface again
 during the 109'h Congress. This report will be updated as warranted.


 Background

     The United States Border Patrol (USBP) incorporated the construction of physical
barriers directly on the border into their National Strategic Plan in the early 1990s as part
of its Prevention Through Deterrence strategy,' which called for reducing unauthorized
migration by placing agents and resources directly on the border along population
centers.' The USBP first constructed border fencing in the San Diego sector, which


1 For an expanded discussion of the USBP, please refer to CRS Report RL32562, Border
Security: The Role of the U.S. Border Patrol, by Bias Nufiez-Neto.
2 Until recently the USBP formed part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296) merged most interior and border enforcement
functions of the Department of Agriculture, the INS, and the U.S. Customs Service to form the
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