>> >>: IT'S A CLEAR BREEZY MORNING ON THE SCRUBBY HILLS OVERLOOKING THE TIJUANA RIVER
VALLEY, BORDER PATROL JEEPS CRUISE THE DIRT ROADS THAT SWITCH BACK UP AND DOWN ALONG THE
HILLS LONG THE BORDER FENCE.
MIKE MCCOY KNOWS THIS CORNER OF THE COUNTRY WELL.
THE 71 YEAR OLD VETERINARIAN HAS SPENT MORE THAN HALF HIS LIFE WORKING TO PROTECT WHERE
THE TIJUANA FRESH WATER MEETS THE SALTY PACIFIC OCEAN.
>> >>: GOING DOWN TOWARDS SMUGGLERS GULF, THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST DIFFICULT CUT FOR
THEM AND THE MOST PROBLEMATIC CUT FOR US.
>> >>: HE MEANS THE ENVIRONMENTALISTS AND LOCAL LAND MANAGER WHOSE VIGOROUSLY FOUGHT
AGAINST THE MASSIVE EARTH MOVING PROJECT WHICH IN 2009 FILLED IN THE GULCH AND BUILT A ROAD
U ACROSS IT IN THE NAME OF BORDER SECURITY.
>> >>: BEFORE IT WAS GOING DOWN THESE SWITCH BACKS AND THAT TOOK A LONG TIME.
THIS WAY THEY JUST FLY RIGHT THROUGH HERE.
>> >>: BY THEY, HE MEANS BOARD TR PATROL AGENTS SCOUTING FOR ILLEGAL SMUGGLING.
BACK THEN HUNDREDS OF ILLEGAL CROSSERS SWARMED DOWN THE HILLS NIGHTLY FROM TIJUANA, THEN
9/11 HAPPENED AND CONCERNS MOUNTED ABOUT TERRORISTS COMING IN THROUGH BORDERS.
AS A RESULT CONGRESS ORDERED A FENCE BUILT ACROSS 700MILES OF THE SOUTHERN BORDER IN
ADDITION TO SAN DIEGO'S FORTIFIED TRIPLE FENCE THAT WAS ALREADY PLANNED.
OPPONENTS OF THE FENCE HAVE FLOWN DOWN FOR YEARS.
CONGRESS PASSED LEGISLATION GIVING THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY THE RIGHT TO WAIVE ALL
LEGAL REQUIREMENTS IN ORDER TO EXPEDITE CONSTRUCTION.
>> >>: THAT REMOVE AD MAJOR TOOL OF ENVIRONMENTALISTS AND OTHERS OPPOSED TO THE CONSTRUCTION.
AND IT REALLY REMOVED MANY OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR AN OPEN PROCESS FOR PUBLIC HEARINGS.
THINGS THAT CITIZENS AND COMMUNITIES AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS HAVE FOUGHT FOR REALLY FROM THE 70S.
>> >>: SINCE THEN HOMELAND SECURITY HAS WAIVED 40 FEDERAL LAWS AND 70 STATE LAWS TO BUILD
FENCE ACROSS BORDER, SOME OF IT ACROSS FEDERALLY PROTECTED AREAS AND HABITAT FOR ENDANGER AND
THREATENED AND SPECIES.
THERE'S TALK OF CONGRESS ADDING 700MILES OF NEW FENCE AND GIVING HOMELAND SECURITY MORE
POWER TO WAIVE LAWS TO BUILD IT AND OTHER BORDER INFRASTRUCTURE.
BORDER PATROL REFUSED TO GRANT AN INTERVIEW FOR THIS STORY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE BORDER
PATROL UNION SAYS FENCING IS GENERALLY JUST A SPEED BUMP.
>> >>: THE FENCE HASN'T CUT DOWN ON HUMAN SMUGGLING, THE SMUGGLING ORGANIZATIONS BUILD
A 21FOOT LADDER AND GET THE PEOPLE OVER IT.
>> >>: ILLEGAL TRAFFIC HERE HAS FLOWED TO SLOW IT'D TO A TRICKLE, IT'S MOVED TO ARIZONA
AND TEXAS.
HE SAYS ADDING HUNDREDS OF MILES WOULD PROBABLY HELP AGENTS BY FUNNELING ILLEGAL TRAFFIC INTO
AREAS THEY CAN CONTROL.
>> >>: IT'S NOT THE ANSWER TO BORDER SECURITY, BUT IT IS A PRIMARY TOOL THAT THE BORDER PATROL
HAS TO SLOW DOWN THINGS.
>> >>: MIKE MCCOY ADMITS THE IMPACT HASN'T BEEN ALL BAD.
ILLEGAL CROSSERS USED TO TROMP THROUGH SENSITIVES AREAS HERE.
HE DOES UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR A SECURE BORDER.
>> >>: I JUST THINK THAT WE COULD HAVE DONE BETTER WITH ANOTHER APPROACH BIOLOGICALLY
AND ECOLOGICALLY THAN WHAT WE DID WITH THIS APPROACH.
>> >>: WHAT REALLY WRANGLES MCCOY IS THE SUPREME TRUMP CARD HELD BY ONE FEDERAL AGENCY, THE
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.
>> >>: IT'S A KIND OF A MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY TYPE THING AND THAT'S NOT THE WAY AMERICA
WORKED TO ME.
WE ALL HAD A SAY IN WHAT WENT FORWARD.
>> >>: AS THIS YEAR'S DEBATE GETS LOUDER, ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS ARE BARELY A WHISPER.
JILL REPLOGLE, KPBS NEWS.