BORDER FENCING COST UP DEBATE LIKELY OVER $60 BILLION ESTIMATE.

Byline: LISA FRIEDMAN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- A hotly disputed fence on the U.S.-Mexico border will cost more than $60 billion -- nearly 10 times more than original estimates -- with billions more needed for land acquisition and maintenance, according to a new government study.

While officials have estimated that the 850-mile fence will cost $7 billion to erect, the report notes that maintenance could cost as much as $70 million per mile over its 25-year life span and that miles of private property in Texas still must be purchased.

The new cost estimates come as a Democratic-controlled Congress prepares to revisit the contentious issue of reducing illegal immigration. And a number of lawmakers have called for a re-evaluation of the fence now being built along the Southwest border.

``It won't ever get built the way it was mandated,'' predicted Marshall Fritz, advocacy director for the Washington, D.C.-based American Immigration Lawyer's Association.

``I don't think you're going to see them repeal the law. It's just a matter of whether you're going to see them fund the entire thing.''

Before adjourning earlier this month, the House and Senate passed sweeping legislation to extend a 14-mile fence already under way in San Diego east to Arizona and Texas.

President George W. Bush signed the measure into law. Lawmakers so far have allocated $1.2 billion for the fence's infrastructure and technology.

But the fence also has raised the ire of many Democrats, who call it an unnecessary and costly diplomatic obstacle. And now they will be in charge of deciding how much funding the project will get.

According to the Congressional Research Service report released earlier this month, the hidden costs of the fence far outweigh known expenses.

``At issue for Congress is how best to allocate scarce border security resources while safeguarding homeland security,'' investigators wrote in the first government study to examine long-term costs of the newly expanded fence.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who will head the House Homeland Security Committee, has indicated he will re-evaluate the project -- a plan that could involve denying additional funding.

Other lawmakers -- including Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. -- have met to discuss a renewed immigration bill that would offer a guest-worker program and a means for millions of illegal immigrants to obtain legal status.

Any proposed funding cuts, however, are certain to spark heated debate.

Bob Dane, a spokesman for the Federation for Immigration Reform, a D.C.-based group that advocates against illegal and most legal immigration, called the barrier a necessary expense.

``That fence is a very tangible statement of this country's intent to enforce its borders,'' Dane said.

``It is expensive, but it's a fixed cost,'' he said, contrasting the cost of the fence to what he described as the ``variable'' cost to the U.S. of paying for illegal immigrants' education, health care and other social services.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who supports extending the fence, has not taken a position on future funding, said her spokesman, Scott Gerber.

``She has seen the fence be effective in California,'' Gerber said. ``The question is, how much money is there and how much is realistic?''

According to the Congressional Research Service report, the 14-mile fence south of San Diego has been effective in reducing the number of illegal crossing arrests.

But officials note that many believe illegal immigrants are simply crossing the border in Arizona instead.

And investigators warned Congress that extending the fence through Arizona and Texas will still leave vulnerabilities.

One side effect could be an increase in underground tunnels like the ones discovered this year, necessitating federal investment in tunnel-detection technologies.

The report also found a number of other costs that Congress has not yet accounted for, including increased costs associated with building in remote areas where workers might need to be housed for extended periods; purchasing land in Texas; and using private contractors, as the DHS has proposed.

Fitz and others predict that immigration in general and the fence in particular will be at the forefront of policy debates in 2007.

``The time has ripened for this issue,'' he said. ``Democratic leaders recognize it as an absolutely critical policy issue for them to address head-on.''

lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com

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