We’re here at UTB, where the hearing has just begun. People are still trickling in, including local politicians, religious officials and landowners along the border.

Cong. Raul Grijalva brings the hearing (”Walls and waivers….”) to order.

“The issue behind the hearing today is a significant one,” he said. He thanks Cong. Ortiz for hosting.

Grijalva continues: “To examine the history, culture, economics of the border and then to decide the only solution is a 700 mile fence…is simply a failure of leadership.”

He gives Cong. Bordallo (D-GU) the floor.

Bordallo make a noble attempt to link her constituency in Guam to the fence’s construction–mentioning the importance of respectable public service.

Now Tom Tancredo has the floor for introductory remarks…

He speaks of the environmental threat caused by illegal immigration. “Tons of trash and human waste are left behind every year. Paths destroy fragile environments along the border…”

Now Duncan Hunter, who calls Cong. Reyes (D-TX) “the best border patrol chief in history.”

“One of the reasons I chose to be here is because I wrote the border fence bill of 2006, which established 854 miles of double fence.”

It was necessary, he said, as he found in San Diego.

In S.D.: There were criminal gangs committing an avg. of 11 murders per year, crossing back and forth along the border. The fence “put the border gangs out of business because they lost their ability to move back and forth.”

“With the fence, we took away their mobility.”

In Yuma, the fence decreased the number of arrests by 96% he said.

Now Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) has the floor. Reyes is a former U.S. Border Patrol chief of 9 years.

Because of his BP connections, Reyes might the most interesting voice on the panel.

“Fencing should be utilized where it makes sense,” he says.

“For 10% of the border we need to consider the potential for fencing. I certainly don’t think we need 700 miles of fencing.”

In El Paso, the fence is splitting, individuals can walk across…

“We’re better off working with the Mex. government where we both co-manage the border.”

He discusses the Merida Initiative, a binational border security effort. Mexico had its own border patrol until the early 60s, he says–an interesting anecdote.

Now Grace Napolitano (D-CA) has the floor. “It’s good to be home,” she says. She grew up in Brownsville.

“Nothing is going to change until immigration policy is taken care of she says.”

“The fence,” she adds, “is ludicrous.”

There are cheers. The room is now packed.

Grijalva asks that the audience refrain from applause–the crowd’s bias has already become clear.

Now Cong. Falemavaeja:

37 fed laws have been waived by Chertoff, he says. “There’s an unwritten rule…that we should always respect the views of district representatives.”

It’s a 2,000-mile border line, he says. In CA there should be some fencing, but there seem to be some exceptions…there are little potholes.

“It’s my intent to look at closely on the treaty existing b/w U.S. and Mexico along the border lines. Are we honoring our treaty with Mexico considering the border line itself?”

The last speaker, Cong. Solomon Ortiz speaks briefly.

“Residents along the American border are the most affected by border security measures.”

South Texas has its culture to lose, he adds.

Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) is hosting a congressional hearing on the border fence tomorrow morning at UTB’s SET-B auditorium. For those of you who can’t make it, On the Fence hopes to be blogging live.

We got the chance to meet with Congressman Grijalva along the Rio Grande this morning, and he was candid about the hearing’s importance. Because of its dense population along the river and several nature reserves that stand to be affected by the fence, Brownsville has become a flash point in the debate over the barrier. Grijalva, who serves on the House Committee on Natural Resources, readily admitted that these are the reasons the hearing was scheduled in the Valley.

With the presence of supporters of the fence, like Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO), both staunchly anti-immigration former presidential candidates, the hearing will be more than an articulation of the Committee on Natural Resources’ complaints about the fence and a lack of congressional oversight.

There will be, Grijalva predicts, a lively debate. The hearing begins at 10 am.

In Sunday’s Herald we ran a story about landowners along the border who will find themselves behind the border fence.

Thanks to Pamela Taylor, one of the residents featured in the story, for sharing the map DHS sent to her earlier this month. The image shows exactly where the fence will run near Taylor’s property. By taking a look at the maps DHS has provided to individual landowners, The Herald is starting to get an idea of the path the fence will follow in the Brownsville area. A provisional map of the fence in the Lower Rio Grande Valley was released four months ago, but as DHS has long said, those plans will likely change.

Detailed maps provided to local landowners give us an idea of the properties feds will have to purchase before beginning the fence’s construction. The maps also make it clear–as today’s story notes–that some homes will be left between the fence and the Rio Grande.

And unless the fence is constructed on their property, these landowners could be left without access through the barrier, and without financial compensation.

Paul and Tim Loop stand along the bank of the Rio Grande Thursday. The two brothers farm 1,000 acres along the Rio Grande–nearly all of which will soon be behind the border fence. The Loops are concerned about access to their land after the fence is built. Brad Doherty/The Brownsville Herald

Missy Young, who works for e2M, an environmental services company contracted by the federal government, conducted a survey of Dr. Eloisa Tamez’s land on Tuesday, April 22. Tamez has resisted the border fence’s construction on her property since she was first contacted by federal officials in August 2007. Brad Doherty/The Brownsville Herald