UTB-TSC deadline for 'friendly fence' nears

BROWNSVILLE - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has constructed 500 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, including a short stretch at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.

But UTB-TSC's barrier, which looks to be completed just before its Dec. 31 deadline, is an anomaly compared to the rest of the government's project.

At less than 11 feet, it's two-thirds the height of nearby border fencing. Instead of solid steel, it's a wire mesh with concrete columns.

Hardly the image of a traditional border security bulwark, the fence is still seen by some as an unnecessary presence on campus. Even among the contractors and construction workers, there are signs of dissent.

"I'm against it, but work is work," said an executive with Mission-based Prime Construction, one of the project's subcontractors. "There's not enough work in the Valley to be selective."

One of the laborers, a man from Veracruz, Mexico holding a temporary work visa, agreed.

"They're going to jump over it," he said in Spanish. "I'm glad I'm not paying for it." He smiled and returned to painting one of the fence's columns.

The "friendly fence," as it was called by university President Juliet V. Garcia, is a monument to the rare compromise reached by UTB-TSC and DHS. The agreement kept the barrier from slicing through the school's campus, instead directing contractors to enhance existing fencing.

"We delivered it exactly the way we said we would," said Michael Putegnat, UTB-TSC's negotiations manager for the project
Putegnat now wonders why construction has yet to begin on adjacent fencing: a traditional 18-foot steel barrier to be built by DHS through Lincoln Park. The government's deadline is Wednesday.

"I thought the United States would fall into the hands of terrorists if the fence wasn't finished on time," Putegnat said.

During negotiations, he joked with government officials that if DHS finished its segment of fencing before the university, he would buy officials a round of beers. They didn't take him up on the bet.

Still, at midnight on New Year's Eve, Putegnat plans to be at the site of the barrier.