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| Home Front: WoT |
| Construction begins on border |
| 2007-01-25 |
| Construction began Wednesday on vehicle barriers that will be part of a mix of border fencing along The first-phase construction, on about nine miles at the western edge of a 37-mile stretch of desert, will consist primarily of vehicular bollards – reinforced, concrete-filled tubes of varying heights set vertically in the ground to deter vehicles. A Department of Homeland Security spokesman said some areas in the initial phase will consist primarily of the bollards, but a small portion will involve a mix of those barriers and traditional fencing. The construction is part of the Secure Border Initiative the Bush administration announced last year, intended to provide a mix of high-tech virtual fencing and a traditional barrier. Power Contracting Inc. of Pittsburgh, a subcontractor of the Boeing Co., is doing the first-phase work, which could cost in the range of $20 million. On Jan. 12, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff cleared the way for the work to start by waiving environmental regulations and laws impeding construction along the 2.8 million-acre bombing range, used by Air Force and Marine Corps aviators for training runs. The full 37-mile fencing will include five miles west of the Goldwater range but will not include the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge to the east. Attention smugglers: that's your entry point. Authorities said there were more than 17,000 known attempts to enter the country illegally on the Goldwater Range and 9,600 apprehensions in 2005, with 15,200 entries and nearly 8,600 apprehensions last year. |
| Posted by:Jackal |
| #2 Wonder how many illegals are working for the contractors. |
| Posted by: kelly 2007-01-25 10:20 |
| #1 Leftards: "Don't mess up our pristine wilderness with your racist impediments to immigration. Let the immigrants do that themselves..." |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2007-01-25 08:29 |