|
Congress: No Border Fence
Media reports to the contrary, Congress is not considering a key enforcement measure that the Border Patrol says would halt illegal immigration by 95 percent - a continuous 2,000 mile border fence extending from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.Even HR 4437, the bill passed by the House in December, proposes only a 700 mile barrier that would cover just the points where the illegal traffic is deemed the highest. But according to the Border Patrol - a security fence is far and away the most effective way to halt the flow of illegals currently deluging the Southwest. After interviewing border agents, National Public Radio reports that apprehensions of illegals plummeted after the border was fenced off in San Diego, dropping from 100,000 in 1993 to just 5,000 in 2005. However, the decreased traffic in San Diego had been offset by higher numbers of illegals going around the California fence, exacerbating border problems in neighboring Arizona. The "end-run" phenomenon makes clear the folly of having a partial barrier covering only high traffic areas. And yet even the allegedly "draconian" House bill proposes that only "parts" of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas be protected with a physical barrier. Versions of the immigration bill currently under consideration by the Senate are even weaker on this key provision. Sen. Jon Kyl, who's considered a border hawk, has offered an amendment calling for double fencing only in the urban areas of Arizona, which now have single fencing, plus a stretch of the border west of Naco. But after the plan raised the hackles of environmentalists, Kyl removed the proposed fencing from a sensitive wildlife corridor. Instead of following the Border Patrol's advice, Congress is insisting that a "virtual fence" - with high-tech motion detectors and surveillance cameras - will be an effective supplement to areas protected by a physical fence. But as Human Event's publisher Terry Jeffries argues: "A virtual fence is specifically designed to force hands-on confrontations between Border Patrolmen and foreign nationals crossing our border. It would cause dangerous situations, where a real fence could deter and prevent them." With Washington refusing to stop the bleeding, private groups are stepping into the breach. The group "BorderFenceProject.com" has launched a civilian effort to seal off the entire Southwest border. "We are in the process of obtaining permits from the Department of the Interior, through the Bureau of Land Management, and other government authorities to build a high-tech barbed-wire fence" the group says on its web site. As the federal government continues to dither, groups like the Minutemen and the BorderFenceProject may be America's last hope for effective border security. Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-04-07 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=147689 |