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1 (September 15, 2006)

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                                                                Order Code RS22026
                                                        Updated September 15, 2006



 CRS Report for Congress

              Received through the CRS Web



         Border Security: Fences Along the

                 U.S. International Border

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

                            Stephen R. Viha
                            Legislative Attorney
                         American Law Division

Summary


     The 109'h Congress passed provisions to facilitate the completion of a three-tiered,
 14-mile fence, along the border near San Diego in the REAL ID Act of 2005 (H.R. 418),
 which was subsequently added to H.R. 1268, the Emergency Supplemental
 Appropriations Act, and signed into law on May 11, 2005 (P.L. 109-13). The new
 provisions allow the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to waive all
 legal requirements determined necessary to ensure expeditious construction of
 authorized barriers and roads. In September of 2005, the Secretary announced that he
 was using this authority to waive a number of mostly environmental and conservation
 laws. Other bills in the 109'h Congress, including House-passed H.R. 4437 and H.R.
 6061 and Senate-passed S. 2611, would call on the Secretary to construct reinforced
 fencing and vehicle barriers along vast portions of the southwest border. This report
 outlines the issues involved with DHS's completion of the San Diego border fence and
 highlights some of the major legislative and administrative developments regarding the
 construction of new border fences. This report will be updated as warranted.


 Background

     The United States Border Patrol (USBP) is the lead federal agency charged with
securing the U.S. international land border with Mexico and Canada. In the early 1990s,
the USBP incorporated the construction of physical barriers directly on the border into
their National Strategic Plan as part of the Prevention Through Deterrence strategy,
which called for reducing unauthorized migration by placing agents and resources directly
on the border abutting population centers. The USBP first constructed border fencing in
the San Diego sector, which extends inland from the Pacific Ocean along the international
land border with Mexico, and covers approximately 7,000 square miles of territory.
Located north of Tijuana and Tecate, Mexican cities with a combined population of 2


       Congressional Research Service +o The Library of Congress

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