Posted on 11/03/2005 4:54:56 AM PST by InvisibleChurch
Lawmaker Wants Fence On 2,000-Mile U.S.-Mexico Border Fence Would Cost Billions Of Dollars
POSTED: 6:34 am EST November 3, 2005
WASHINGTON -- A House Republican wants to build a fence along the entire 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, a plan that could cost billions of dollars and one that critics say would do little to stop illegal immigration.
California Rep. Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, plans to introduce legislation that would create a two-layer reinforced fence with lighting and sensors from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, a 100-yard border zone to the north of the barriers and 25 new ports of entry.
Currently, most of the westernmost 14-mile stretch of the border is lined with parallel fencing. There is secure fencing at other vulnerable points, but long stretches of the border are protected only by patchy barbed wire or nothing at all.
"Illegal aliens continue to funnel directly into many of our local communities and adversely impact our way of life by overwhelming our schools, inundating our health care system and, most concerning, threatening our safety," said Hunter, who was working on the bill with Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va.
He said building a fence and enforcing immigration laws could reverse the trends.
A conservative group called Let Freedom Ring that is promoting a border fence estimates it would cost about $8 billion.
Republican Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado recently announced his support for the project, but Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has said he does not think a fence would stop illegal immigration.
Groups including National Council of La Raza, the largest U.S.-based Hispanic advocacy group, oppose a fence.
"It doesn't really deal with why people are migrating or why our economy is so dependent on their labor," said Cecilia Munoz, the group's vice president of policy. "The resourcefulness of people on both sides of the border is likely to be greater than a fence."
Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, planned to join Hunter at his news conference Thursday to support the idea.
"The U.S. and Mexico, if they're going to remain friends they're going to need good fences," Stein said.
Hunter's bill contains other immigration reforms including authorizing 10,000 new Border Patrol officers, empowering local police to enforce immigration laws and increasing penalties for hiring illegal immigrants.
Hunter is a leading opponent of illegal immigration who earlier this year pushed the Bush administration to commit to fortifying the westernmost 3½ miles of the border, over the objections of environmentalists, the California Coastal Commission and the local Democratic congressman.
I would like to see a nice fence built between the United States and Mexico but I don't think it will ever happen.
There are fences there at certain stretches! And all the fences do is slow em up a tad!
Nothing short of a "Berlin wall" will stop them.
Not a passive Wall; but an active one: hit anything between the perimeter walls and you get a commission; hit anything outside the walls and you go to jail for murder.
land mines would be more effective and a greater deterent
Me too and we want it 30 foot high and electrified and have a clearing of at least 600 feet on each side.
Land mines are a GREAT IDEA. They would be less expensive over the long haul, too.
Even if it cost billions..it would be cheaper than what the illegals cost us......
Only way we'll see this type of fence is on Mexico's southern border per CFR plans to have the NAFTA countries merge as a regional security zone.
To put the leftists in a snit, call it the Princess Diana Memorial Mine Field. :-)
How many of these people are legal....from the freeper article below about Heroin...
The arrests
Arturo Acosta Fernandez, 33: two counts of transportation and sale of narcotic drugs; held without bond
Maria Antonia Acosta-Salazar, 32: two counts of transportation and sale of narcotic drugs; bond not set
Elsa Carolina Ancheta, 39: two counts of money laundering; $100,000 bond
Jesus Manuel Garcia, 29: two counts of possession of narcotic drugs for sale; two counts of transportation and sale of narcotic drugs; one count of drug paraphernalia violation; $300,000 bond
Sergio Luis Garcia, 28: one count of illegal control of enterprise; two counts of narcotic drug violation; one count of possession of narcotic drugs for sale; three counts of transportation and sale of narcotic drugs; one count of drug paraphernalia violation; held without bond
Ofelia Rodriguez-Lopez, 24: two counts of possession of narcotic drugs for sale; $100,000 bond
Manuel Magaña-Lopez, 22: two counts of money laundering; one count of transportation and sale of narcotic drugs; $100,000 bond
Oscar Magaña-Lopez, 38: one count of a narcotic drug violation; one count of transportation and sale of narcotic drugs; one count of failure to appear; $200,000 bond
Louis Schirka, 32: two counts of possession of narcotic drugs for sale; bond not set
Troy Tuggle, 27: two counts of possession of narcotic drugs for sale; bond not set
Felipe de Jesus Valenzuela, 24 : two counts of possession of narcotic drugs for sale; bond not set
Also arrested was Ignacio Cabralez Navarro, who is in custody in California; charges not available.
Rafael Acosta Perez remains in a local hospital and has not been booked into jail.
Four outstanding warrants remain for Carlos Acosta Camacho, Gilardo Castillo-Lopez, Yesenia Duarte-Medina and Paul Thomas Murrell
I would sooner go for bounty. So much per head for those nabbed and brought in.
"A conservative group called Let Freedom Ring that is promoting a border fence estimates it would cost about $8 billion."
It would save us way more than that.
"Republican Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado recently announced his support for the project, but Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has said he does not think a fence would stop illegal immigration."
It would if it were electrified and there were gun emplacemnets every so often, perhaps randomly placed and moved daily.
I would gladly pay a fence tax or levy.
bounty/commission = po-tay-to/po-tah-to
:)
Sounds like a great idea, as long as the fence is concrete, 20 feet high above ground and 15 feet below ground, topped with razor wire, 10 feet wide so you can walk along the top, and with guard towers every few hundred yards.
Let's do the same up north, too. Canada is a favored entry point into North America for ME types.
Cost is no object, as the net savings from a program would make it pay for itself very quickly.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.