In a set of maps submitted as a public comment to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Tuesday, local officials in Starr County outline an alternative border wall plan for their patch of the Rio Grande Valley, west of McAllen. The document was posted by Rose Benavidez, president of the Starr County Industrial Foundation, a nonprofit that coordinated the proposal. The maps are part of an ongoing negotiation between officials in five Starr County localities and the federal government over the details of the border wall, a process that Congress mandated in February.
“We’ve tried to get local feedback from property owners, local leadership; what we’re proposing are options that would be palatable to the community and also meet CBP’s operational needs,” Benavidez told me Wednesday.
