“Under Secretary Napolitano’s leadership, we have strengthened border security beyond what many believed was possible. They wanted more agents on the border. Well, we now have more boots on the ground on the southwest border than at any time in our history. The Border Patrol has 20,000 agents – more than twice as many as there were in 2004, a build up that began under President Bush and that we have continued.
They wanted a fence. Well, that fence is now basically complete.
And we’ve gone further. We tripled the number of intelligence analysts working the border. I’ve deployed unmanned aerial vehicles to patrol the skies from Texas to California. We’ve forged a partnership with Mexico to fight the transnational criminal organizations that have affected both of our countries. And for the first time we are screening 100 percent of southbound rail shipments – to seize guns and money going south even as we go after drugs coming north.
So, we have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement. But even though we’ve answered these concerns, I suspect there will be those who will try to move the goal posts one more time. They’ll say we need to triple the border patrol. Or quadruple the border patrol. They’ll say we need a higher fence to support reform.
Maybe they’ll say we need a moat. Or alligators in the moat.
They’ll never be satisfied. And I understand that. That’s politics.
But the truth is, the measures we’ve put in place are getting results. Over the past two and a half years, we’ve seized 31 percent more drugs, 75 percent more currency, and 64 percent more weapons than before. Even as we’ve stepped up patrols, apprehensions along the border have been cut by nearly 40 percent from two years ago – that means far fewer people are attempting to cross the border illegally.”
If anyone want to read the whole thing, you can find it here:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/266896/obamas-immigration-speech-daniel-foster
I’m truly shaking my head and I can’t believe he said the fence is almost complete. What fence???
There’s no border fence. 0bama is a liar.
BS. And shame on anyone who believes it...
Money for the fence was allocated before O ever entered office. Here’s some info:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/systems/mexico-wall.htm
“For fiscal years 2006 through 2009, the SBI program received about $3.6 billion in appropriated funds. Of this amount, by late 2008 about $2.4 billion had been allocated to complete approximately 670 miles of vehicle and pedestrian fencing along the roughly 2,000 miles of border between the United States and Mexico. In March the Tactical Infrastructure / Border Fence Program was transferred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Finance, Facilities Management and Engineering (FM&E) from the Secure Border Initiative (SBI).
As of January 22, 2010, CBP had completed roughly 643.3 miles of fencing.”
Let’s break this down:
Virtual fence canceled:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/us/politics/15fence.html
“After September 11th, this country put in place vital measures intended to protect the global movement of marine cargo that touches our shores before it moves into the interior of the country. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is screening all inbound containers and inspecting those that merit further scrutiny. And increasingly, this screening and inspection is taking place at the port of departure overseas, before cargo arrives in the United States. “
http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2005/press_release_0606.shtm
Only 20 percent of us northbound trains scanned:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/only-20-percent-us-bound-cargo-screened-bombs
What do the intelligence analysts do, look at drone photos and say, yep that is a bunch of wetbacks crossing?
--uh, Say Again?