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Europe
Switzerland Proposes Barbed Wire Fence Along Italian Border
2016-05-05
[Breitbart] Andreas Glarner, the specialist on asylum policy for the ruling Swiss People’s Party (UDC), has asked local municipalities to stop accepting any further asylum-seekers and proposed the use of barbed wire at the border.
Fences don't work -- just ask the Democrats...
The UDC, which picked up the majority of seats in the Federal Assembly last October, has suggested that not all asylum applications should be processed. "Faced with such mass migration, we must accept that it is not possible to examine all requests," Glarner said. "Systematic checks at customs would have serious repercussions for immigration."

Since for all intents and purposes France and Austria have closed their borders, the focus is on Italy. "We are facing a flood of asylum-seekers," said the Swiss political daily Tages Anzeiger. "The only gateway to Europe passes through Italy. No one wants to stay in Italy, so everyone will come to Switzerland."

Three weeks ago, Switzerland announced it was considering stationing a tank battalion at its southern border with Italy, just after news that Austria is considering shutting down the Brenner Pass between Italy and Austria.

Switzerland declared it is weighing the option of posting tanks to secure its own border with Italy. "We expect a significant increase in the number of refugees this summer. If Austria now closes off the Brenner Pass, Switzerland will become the only gateway to Northern Europe. Before that, we have to protect ourselves," said Norman Gobbi, the security director of the Swiss Canton of Ticino.

As other migrant routes become more restricted or close altogether, Italy is becoming increasingly the path of choice for migrants coming both from the south and from the east. Heading north through Italy, if Austria no longer becomes an option, "many will then travel to Switzerland," Gobbi said.

According to Gobbi, migrants increasingly cross the border between Italy and Switzerland illegally. "The refugees mainly take routes outside of the official border crossings. We must prepare ourselves for a possible migrant onslaught," he said.

During the first part of this year Italy has taken in 50 percent more refugees than during the same period in 2015, and the Italian government is forecasting the total number of migrants this year to be double that of last year. "This will not be without consequences for Switzerland," said Gobbi.

The region has some 2,000 soldiers of the Swiss Tank Battalion at the ready, and they have been asked to postpone vacations in order to be available as needs may arise.
Posted by:Besoeker

#6  #4 is spot on. I've lived in San Diego/Chula Vista and now East County all my life. The wall works.
Posted by: Frank G   2016-05-05 21:20  

#5  That rant is the other reason I love Rantburg, NoMoreBS: meaty comments by people who know whereof they speak. I'm going to save that for future reference.
Posted by: trailing wife   2016-05-05 15:11  

#4  From 1990-1995, I was the Counterdrug Coordinator and then Task Force Commander for the Cal Guard supporting Counterdrug Operations throughout the state. When we were in discussions with the US Border Patrol in 1992 about the initial construction of the border fence in San Diego and eventually parts of Imperial County, we discussed a number of options to improve Border Enforcement for drug smuggling interdiction operations. Coincidental to that obviously was the impact on illegal immigration. Physical barriers like a wall, wire and anti-vehicle obstacles, as well as improved road network, all were planned to channelize the pedestrian and vehicle incursions into engagement areas to allow the USBP to concentrate resources and increase effectiveness.
In the end we transformed dramatically the nature of the 13 mile San Diego Sector, driving the vast majority of trafficking eastward into the Smith Valley and beyond.
I pains me no end to see the silly canard that a wall cannot stop immigration because people can climb over it, the implication being that a fix must be 100% or it is worthless. Its all about enhanced enforcement percentages at the border, to allow the interior enforcement options to handle the overflow, and not be overwhelmed with primary apprehensions above their manning levels.
Build a wall, enhance the use of E-Verify, link Social Security filings to enforcement by CBP, detail locals to handle the backlog of deportation cases, prosecute those who employ illegals knowingly, rid the public welfare and Medicaid roles of illegals (50% of whom are on some form of public assistance according to the most recent FAIR reporting), control remittances to Mexico and beyond, and a huge number will self-deport home, and the flow will stop when they see no advantage to overcoming the obstacles to coming here. (sorry for the long rant)
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2016-05-05 12:55  

#3  The immigrants would just throw their women and children on the wire and walk across the border on their backs.
I vote for an armed presence.
Posted by: jvalentour   2016-05-05 12:39  

#2  Useful in channeling people into corridors. Easier to plug a hole with a finger than cover an entire breach with the same.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2016-05-05 09:52  

#1  Barbed wire may work for cattle, but people have wire cutters. For effective people fences you need things like minefields and machine guns (a few people got through the Iron Curtain, but it was pretty effective.)
Posted by: Glenmore   2016-05-05 08:41  

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