Contractor Nears Completion Of Border Fence

Crews building a 7-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border near the southern Arizona town of Sasabe are nearing completion of the project just three months after breaking ground. But critics say a land swap between federal agencies that paved the way for one section sets a bad precedent. The Department of Homeland Security avoided roadblocks on the final eight-tenths of a mile of the fence by acquiring nearly 6 acres of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge land in a trade."Environmentalists are concerned that Homeland Security is rushing to build fencing without appropriate review of its impacts on wildlife and habitat. About 700 miles of fence is to be built in California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico under a law Congress passed last year. A Phoenix contractor is expected to complete the 7-mile section in the next few weeks.