US-Mexico border fence could cut through backyards, create a no-man's-land

SHOTLIST Roma, Texas 1. Various of Rio Grande River 2. Landowner Noel Benavides at river bank 3. Close of area map and land ownership documents 4. Pan of cactus near river bank 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Noel Benavides, Landowner: "All they have to do is say I want this and if you don't want to sell it to me I have eminent domain and I'll takeover." 6. Various of river 7. Mid shot of border patrol vehicle 8. Wide of river, tilt down to information board 9. SOUNDBITE (English) Noel Benavides, Landowner: "You want me to throw up in front of you right now? That's probably what would happen." 10. Benavides walking on land 11. Tilt up from river and wide of town 12. Wide of road 13. SOUNDBITE (English) Noel Benavides, Landowner: "We more than likely will go down, but we'll go (down) swinging." Granjeno, Texas 14. Close of sign reading (English): "No Borderwall" 15. SOUNDBITE (English) Napoleon Garza, Landowner: "We've been here since before Texas was Texas." 16. Various of home 17. Wide of street 18. Wide of river 19. Various of privately owner land around house 20. SOUNDBITE: Napoleon Garza, Landowner: "The government wants to come over and stomp their foot and say move the hell out of the way and they're going to set up a big old wall, it's going to destroy our town." 21. Landowner Daniel Garza walking outside his home 22. SOUNDBITE: Daniel Garza, Landowner: "I can't fight because I don't have no way to defend myself you know, when fighting you always need money. Money talks, we don't got it." 23. Close of Garza's dog in yard STORYLINE The US government's effort to secure its southern border with Mexico by building a series of barriers is causing panic among residents whose land falls in the path of the proposed fence. A map obtained by The Associated Press shows that the double-or triple-layer fence may be built as much as two miles (3 kilometres) from the river on the US side of the Rio Grande, leaving parts of nearby communities in a potential no-man's-land between the barrier and the water's edge. Based on the map, and what the residents say they have been told by authorities, the barrier fence could run straight through houses and backyards. Some fear it could even cut farmers off from prime farmland close to the river bank. Noel Benavides, who owns riverfront land in Roma that was granted to the family by the Spanish in 1767, said he feels the authorities will end up taking over the land regardless of his efforts to save his land. "All they have to do is say I want this and if you don't want to sell it to me I have eminent domain and I'll takeover," Benavides said. Meanwhile, in Granjeno, founded 240 years ago along the Rio Grande, resident Napoleon Garza said his family had been there "before Texas was Texas." But now, he says, the town is under threat since it falls in the outlined path of the barrier fence. "The government wants to come over and stomp their foot and say move the hell out of the way and they're going to set up a big old wall," Garza said. "It's going to destroy our town," he added. Congress has authorised 1.2 (b) billion US dollars for 700 miles (1,100 kilometres) of fence along the Mexican border in an effort to keep out illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. The plans call for about 330 miles (531 kilometres) of virtual fences - cameras, underground sensors, radar and other technology - and 370 miles (595 kilometres) of real fences. About 70 miles (113 kilometres) of real fence are set to be built in the Rio Grande Valley, at the southeastern tip of Texas, by the end of 2008. The Rio Grande has been the international boundary since the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848 ended the Mexican-American War. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/a40797a1fd17cd537ef5d1cfc7611832 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork