The proposed 700 mile fence. If they won't build even 700 miles of this real fence, you know they are lying about wanting to stop the illegal invasion.
Posted on 03/10/2006 9:56:15 PM PST by NormsRevenge
A Senate committee signed off on a plan for hiring thousands of new Border Patrol officers while eliminating a plan to build 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico divide.
The Judiciary Committee agreed on a plan to add roughly 10,000 agents to the ranks of Customs and Border Protection over the next five years. It also adopted an amendment from Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., to replace old fences only in high-population areas along the Arizona border, and required the detention of non-Mexican immigrants caught illegally crossing the border, ending the so-called "catch and release" policy.
Kyl's proposal includes funding for the increased use of technology such as video cameras and infrared sensors to stop border-crossers, rather than extending the 15-foot-high fencing already in place in San Diego and elsewhere.
"It's important that we target our limited resources to the critical sectors of our country that will result in the greatest impact to stopping the flow of illegal crossings," Kyl said in a statement. "Providing the Tucson and Yuma sectors with fencing and vehicle barriers will accomplish exactly that."
The committee is reviewing border security legislation passed in December by the House of Representatives. That bill, H.R. 4437, included provisions requiring companies to verify their employees are in the country legally, increased fines for hiring undocumented workers, and made it a crime to assist an illegal immigrant in any way.
The Senate is expected to loosen the tougher restrictions passed by the House. Additionally, the Senate version of the bill includes a guest-worker program and a plan to let millions of illegal immigrants already in the country gain legal status.
Senators had clashed over whether the 700 miles of fencing would be an effective deterrent to would-be illegal immigrants. Texas Republican John Cornyn said such a barrier would cost billions of dollars and send a "dramatically negative message" about the nation's attitude toward its neighbors.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said he supported the idea of a fence along the border. The technology components are just a "detection device," and not a true barrier, he said.
The vehicle barriers in the amendment adopted Thursday would be concrete and steel posts spaced several feet apart. The barriers -- many of which are already in place along the border -- stop cars from crossing but cause less disruption to wildlife than a fence would.
The committee also adopted an amendment requiring the detention of non-Mexican illegal immigrants caught crossing the border. Under the "catch and release" policy, those border-crossers were released with an order requiring them to appear at an immigration hearing, because detention facilities are typically too full to hold them all. Supporters said it would close a loophole that allows illegal immigrants to ignore those court appearances and slip into the country undetected.
Rep. Sessions, who sponsored the proposal, said the government's current practice makes "a mockery" of the nation's laws against illegal immigration.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff promised late last year that the practice would end, and that those aliens would instead be deported to their home countries more quickly.
Estimates of the number of illegal immigrants in the United States range from 10 million to 15 million. More than half of them are from Mexico, and about 25 percent live in California, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
The president first proposed a temporary worker program in 2004, saying it would reduce illegal immigration while maintaining the labor supply provided by migrants.
The committee will address the visa and guest-worker proposal next week. Majority Leader Bill Frist has said he wants the bill to reach the floor of the Senate by March 27.
My goodness! That might even cost 1/10th of what we are currently paying Egypt for not attacking Israel.
None of this means one @#$Q thing, of course, unless these guys are willing to actively deport.
Dubai and the UAE were "deported." Do ya think the furloughed Boeing workers or the Longshoremen mob strong arms will be more capable to defend those borders?
The only problem is we need 10,000 marines there five years ago.
The proposed 700 mile fence. If they won't build even 700 miles of this real fence, you know they are lying about wanting to stop the illegal invasion.
Haha! I wonder what Mexico's price is? At least a fence would not take bribes and not call in sick every Monday.
The first picture - of a scrappy, obscure line - could be transformed into a large buffer/defense zone that senses invasion, alerts authorities, and entraps the trespassers.
It could be left just the way it is, visually, yet be ten times as effective as any good wall or large fence.
"Could be."
But history teaches us a sharp lesson in reality. All of the "smart borders" and sensors, patrolling drones etc always turn out to be smoke and mirrors, just BS to trick us into believing something is being done.
The great benefit of a real fence is that it allows the USBP to actually patrol a barrier, instead of forcing them to run around 100,000 square miles of wide open desert, searching for tens of thousands of illegals a day who have just strolled on in.
With a real fence, crossing will be a hundred times harder, and will mean leaving cut holes, tracks etc., so the USBP can pursue those few who make it across.
Agreed. Unless we're willing to build a wall and deport, there isn't much substance here. If they'll just be waving everyone through like traffic cops, this does nothing for security or illegal immigration control. Unless HB4437 clears the Senate in-tact, this is a big-fat pork sandwich dressed-up to look like a hamburger.
I've wondered whether the southern border is open to funnel invaders through a zone we can monitor. You don't sound so confident however!
Deja Vu all over again. This was already done on GWB's watch, he only hired a few hundred.
A million illegals a year walk into the USA. That is not "monitored."
Senate selling us out AGAIN!
Senate panel approves plan to hire 10,000 more border officers (over next 5 years)
again?
I see it that way. Looks like our "100% conservative ACU" TX Sen is taking a Siesta on this one!
10,000 more border officers, 10,000 brand new 35,000 dollar SUV's they each get, plus the training costs, and equipment costs, and health care benefits, and union dues, and, and, and...A fence would be more economical.
I will not let you get away with denigrating our efficient, dedicated Border Patrol in this manner. Far from just "waving everyone through", our Border Patrol Welcome Wagon has been assisting our incoming International Guests by transporting them in our federal Welcome Wagons to the nearby bus station so that our International Guests can reach anywhere in the US more efficiently. I really don't know who pays the bus fare, probably the US taxpayer.
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