Hidalgo County Commission Backs Federal Border Barrier, Sends Resolution to DHS, Delegation

A unanimous vote by the Hidalgo County Board of County Commissioners on Feb. 18 approved a resolution backing the construction of federal barrier infrastructure and directed that the resolution be sent to the Department of Homeland Security and the county’s congressional delegation, a move formally requested on the floor by Commission Chairman Kelly Peterson.

The action comes alongside a separate county demand for federal remediation of levee damage in southwestern Hidalgo County. Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez issued a public statement saying he has asked county crews and independent contractors to begin assessing the costs and process of fixing breaches in the federally owned levee system along the Rio Grande; in that statement Cortez said, “The federal government does not seem to have the same sense of urgency that I have,” and added, “Should we find it necessary to use local resources to fix the damage of these federal contractors, it is my intent to seek reimbursement from the federal government of any cost incurred to our taxpayers.”

County officials have attributed the breaches to recent border wall construction that, according to a Hidalgo County press release cited by local officials, “consisted of flattening several points along the federally owned levee system that acts as a protective barrier to flooding along the Rio Grande.” The damage has been localized to southwestern Hidalgo County; the county statement ordered immediate assessments but did not include dollar estimates, a repair timeline, or the names of contractors that will perform repairs.

The commission’s backing of federal barrier infrastructure and the county’s demand for federal repairs intersect with an extended regional history of levee-fence controversies. Meeting records and federal actions from the 2007-2008 period show repeated local lobbying for a combined levee-and-fence project, with meetings in December 2007 and January of the following year driving momentum even as Customs and Border Protection officials raised concerns. In April 2008 then-Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff used special powers to allow mingling of federal fence funds with county levee repair money and waived environmental regulations; the following month a grant was issued that required DHS approval of “sub-awards/subcontracts and changes to contract and sub-contracts prior to execution.” Those episodes touched off disputes over contractors and county payments, with watchdog groups criticizing arrangements that left a local contractor identified as Godfrey Garza, and his company Valley Data Services, positioned to benefit; one critic observed, “County commissioners are basically saying, ‘Godfrey Garza tricked us into paying him.’ It’s hard for me to understand how he was able to hypnotize four or five county commissioners to get them to do what he wanted to do.”

Judge Cortez’s statement reiterated the county’s intent to protect taxpayers and to pursue federal reimbursement if local funds are used to repair damage attributed to federal contractors. At the same time, Commission Chairman Kelly Peterson’s formal request for the barrier-resolution vote signals county support for new federal infrastructure. County officials have circulated a press release describing levee damage and have mobilized assessment teams; the full texts of the recent resolutions and the route of their distribution to DHS and the congressional delegation have not yet been published by county authorities.