McAllen Chamber president calls for wall around nation’s capital

James Osborne

June 19, 2007 - 4:56PM

McALLEN — What do you do when the federal government announces it’s going to build a large, metal fence through your community and there’s nothing you can do to stop it?

Write your members of Congress, complain on talk radio … suggest a wall be built around Washington, D.C., and e-mail everyone you can think of to make it happen.

Steve Ahlenius, president of the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, sent out an e-mail to 140 media outlets nationwide Tuesday morning with the subject line: “McAllen, Texas calls for wall around Washington D.C.”

“We feel the need to protect ourselves from bad legislation, bad ideas and a waste of tax money,” Ahlenius wrote.

“A wall around their homes and businesses will give the legislators and Washington bureaucrats a better understanding of what kind of message this action will send.

“Let’s see if they decide to climb over it, tunnel under it, or walk over it.”

Ahlenius’ grab for the news spotlight comes six weeks after a confidential U.S. Department of Homeland Security map was leaked to the media, detailing the location of 370 miles of security fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Federal officials have since called the map “preliminary,” but the document set off a firestorm of protest up and down the Texas border with Mexico.

Ahlenius, who has been vocal about the negative impact the fence could have on McAllen’s burgeoning retail sector, said he wrote the e-mail to try to garner more attention for the issue.

“It’s really a tongue-in-cheek thing to bring some focus in on how silly their proposal is,” he said.

“In Washington (D.C.) they don’t speak the language and understand the culture down here.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, Ahlenius said he had only received a couple of media phone calls, one from an Univision outlet in Miami that conducted a quick interview.

Still, McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez — who had yet to read the e-mail when contacted Tuesday afternoon — dropped high praise on Ahlenius for his efforts.

“I’m glad he’s taking a proactive role in bringing attention to this issue,” the mayor said. “There has not been a proper debate on the issue of the border fence and immigration yet.”

As for Ahlenius, while Congress probably won’t be approving his plans for a wall around Washington, D.C., anytime soon, he remains hopeful plans for the fence here will be scaled back.

“Like us putting a wall around Washington (D.C.), how silly is that for us to talk about? That’s how we feel about what they’re doing,” Ahlenius said.

“We’re trying to put to people — what would you do if they decided to build a fence around your town?”
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James Osborne covers McAllen and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4428.