Congress May Expand Border Fences

AP on Yahoo ^ | 5/11/06 | Jacques Billeaud - ap

[NormsRevenge]

DOUGLAS, Ariz. - Much of this dusty city along the border is separated from Mexico by a fence consisting of 12-foot vertical metal bars, spaced inches apart to prevent illegal immigrants from squeezing through.

Surveillance cameras are mounted on towers nearby, and Border Patrol agents posted hundreds of feet away in the desert scrub and flowering ocotillo watch for anyone who might try to scale, cut through, slip under or sneak around the fence.

Though these fences are criticized for shifting would-be border-crossers to more dangerous and remote spots, they do make it harder for illegal immigrants to reach urban areas where they can slip into a car and head for the nation's interior to find work.

Now, as Washington seeks to overhaul America's broken immigration policies, Congress is considering putting many more such barriers along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, which already has 83 miles of fences.

A bill that cleared the House in December would put fences at immigrant- and drug-smuggling corridors in all four southern border states. At an estimated cost of $2.5 billion, the fences would cover 850 miles of border — roughly one-fifth the length of the Great Wall of China — though it would not be one continuous wall.

The gaps would be policed the way many remote areas of the border are already guarded now: with motion sensors, cameras, unmanned drone aircraft and Border Patrol agents.

Among other things, House legislation calls for a mostly continuous 392-mile fence from Calexico, Calif., to Douglas. The second-largest piece would be a largely uninterrupted 305-mile segment in the Texas brush country from Laredo to Brownsville, a corridor used by cocaine smugglers.

Immigrant rights groups say fences waste taxpayer money because would-be border-crossers who are desperate to earn a better living in America will always find a way around or through barriers, as evidenced by the lower sections of the fence in Douglas, where rods have had to be welded into place to patch up breaches.

Even some proponents say erecting fences, without using other border enforcement efforts, will not stop illegal immigrants.

"All by itself, it's not a magic solution," said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors limiting immigration.

But the Border Patrol says fences slow down immigrants so authorities can have enough time to respond to those who try to come across. That, in turn, frees up other agents to focus on remote areas, where they already use aircraft and ground sensors.

"Fencing by itself is not effective, but not having a fence is not effective either," added Sen. Jon Kyl (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz.

Advocates for beefing up border security said a 14-mile fence near San Diego, once the country's most prolific smuggling center, shows that barriers work. The fence there is made of corrugated metal sheets previously used as landing surfaces for military aircraft. Behind it is a second fence, made of tightly woven mesh.

Within that area, the barrier is credited with dramatically reducing the flow of illegal immigrants.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (news, bio, voting record), a California Republican who is the leading voice in Congress for more fences, said the costs of building fences are much lower than the government expenses associated with illegal immigration, including huge sums spent on incarcerating immigrants convicted of crimes in the United States.

Opponents say there are some costly consequences as well. Immigrant rights advocates say fences prompt migrants to cross in remote areas where they face dangerous obstacles, such as rivers where some drown, deserts where some succumb to the heat, and mountains where some are injured or die.

Also, a large-scale fence could force immigrants to remain in the country longer, while in the past they came to earn money and then returned home, said Angela Kelley, deputy director of the pro-immigrant National Immigration Forum.

"If it's riskier and harder, people don't leave," said Kelley, who believes a guest worker program will reduce illegal crossings.

In Douglas, Louis Hahn, a retiree who tends horses on his ranch, said the fence reduces traffic through the city. But he said it is simplistic to think that a huge physical barrier will trump the economic forces that prompt fathers to leave their families and risk their lives for a chance at a better life.

"You have got to put yourself in the position of the man crossing the border and what he's willing to take," Hahn said.

___

On the Net:

Customs and Border Protection: http://www.cbp.gov

Sen. Jon Kyl: http://kyl.senate.gov

Rep. Duncan Hunter: http://www.house.gov/hunter

National Immigration Forum: http://www.immigrationforum.org

Federation for American Immigration Reform: http://www.fairus.org

[NormsRevenge]

People at the Playas de Tijuana area of Tijuana, Mexico, left, look out over the U.S.-Mexico border fence where it meets the Pacific Ocean in Imperial Beach, Calif., April 27, 2006. Though these fences are criticized for shifting would-be border-crossers to more dangerous and remote spots, they do make it harder for illegal immigrants to reach urban areas where they can slip into a car and head for the nation's interior. Now, Congress is considering putting many more such barriers along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, which already has 83 miles of fences. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

[NormsRevenge]

Hermin Ramos of Oaxaca, Mexico, looks over the U.S.-Mexico border fence near Smuggler's Gulch in San Diego, April 27, 2006. Though these fences are criticized for shifting would-be border-crossers to more dangerous and remote spots, they do make it harder for illegal immigrants to reach urban areas where they can slip into a car and head for the nation's interior. Now, Congress is considering putting many more such barriers along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, which already has 83 miles of fences. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

---

FRom the studio audience,, HERMIN RAMOS!!!

COME ON DOWN and Let's PLAY, The Price IS RIGHT!!!

[areafiftyone]

I'm sorry but in that second picture that fence doesn't look too formidable.

[NormsRevenge]

Meanwhile,,, :-}

Lyman Stucky, of San Bernardino, Calif., pulls away from a rally against illegal immigration in Birmingham, Ala., Tuesday, May 9, 2006. Stucky is driving his red, white and blue 1970 Mercury Cougar in a national caravan organized by the Minuteman Project. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)

---

DAY 9: Minuteman Caravan to D.C. - 7:00pm rally tonight in Richmond at the Capitol

[NormsRevenge]

Demonstrators against illegal immigration listen to a speech near the Tennessee Capitol in Nashville where members of the Minutemen Project stopped on their way to Washington, Monday, May 8, 2006. The Minutemen Project has drawn volunteers from across America to California and other border states to look out for migrants trying to sneak into the United States. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

[EQAndyBuzz]

"Immigrant rights groups say fences waste taxpayer money because would-be border-crossers who are desperate to earn a better living in America will always find a way around or through barriers, as evidenced by the lower sections of the fence in Douglas, where rods have had to be welded into place to patch up breaches. "

A big fence, with barb wire on top and on both sides. A 20 ft long ditch, filled with water and containing pirhanas with freeaking laser beams on their heads. Have dogs, big dogs running on a wire the length of the fence. Don't forget to include the drones.

[wmfights]

I think if were going to build it we should do it right. Build a 25' foot high concrete wall that people can't climb over. It would be more expensive, but it would be more effective and last longer.

[mikeus_maximus]

I'm ready for them to tell us they're negotiating the makeup of a committee to consider exploring the feasibility of a study to outline the potential for incrementailly expandind a border fence or virtual representation thereof sometime within the next 4 years or so-- if we'll only give them the necessary time by voting them back into office.

[NormsRevenge]

A three-tiered barbed wire fence separates Mexico, background, from rancher Jack Ladd's land Friday, April 28, 2006 in Naco, Ariz. Area ranchers have an ongoing problem with illegal aliens, who cut the fences to cross the border. (AP Photo/Matt York)

[humblegunner]

Opponents say there are some costly consequences as well. Immigrant rights advocates say fences prompt migrants to cross in remote areas where they face dangerous obstacles, such as rivers where some drown, deserts where some succumb to the heat, and mountains where some are injured or die.

That sounds pretty effective to me.

[Osage Orange]

Be cheaper to just place a couple rolls of razor wire.....

[digger48]

[mtbopfuyn]

though it would not be one continuous wall

Of course we can't have a continuous wall because that would make it difficult for them to cross.

[oldleft]

[wmfights]

"Be cheaper to just place a couple rolls of razor wire....."
___________________________________

Razor wire can be pushed aside, dug under, or even cut.

[PreviouslyA-Lurker]

I know it would be too expensive but - a wall, flat and vertical on the Mexican side, and sloping on the U.S. side and strong enough to withstand a large vehicle crash, with coiled razor wire at the top and the bottom?

[Yo-Yo]

[wmfights]

That's exactly what I'm thinking of. The sheer walls can't be climbed over. The concrete slabs are preformed and interlock.

[Buckeye McFrog]

so you're a mine man, eh?