Higher Fences = Better Neighbors
From an article in nbcsandiego.com
WASHINGTON -- A local 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 that critics say would do little to stop illegal immigration.
Rep. Duncan Hunter of San Diego, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, planned to announce legislation Thursday to 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 and 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 introducing 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.
The plan is controversial. Republican Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado recently announced his support, but Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has said he doesn't 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 3.5 miles of the border, over the objections of environmentalists, the California Coastal Commission and the local Democratic congressman.
How about some quick figures on illegal immegration and how it is affecting us, shall we?
- 10.4 million illegal aliens reside in the United States.(source: Pew Hispanic Center)
- Every year, 500,000 additional illegal aliens enter the United States(source: Pew Hispanic Center)
- California's nearly 3 million illegal immigrants cost taxpayers nearly $9 billion each year (source: Federation for American Immigration Reform)
- Illegal aliens cost the federal government $10 billion more annually than they pay in taxes. (source: Center for Immigration Studies)
- Taxpayers pay $750 million annually to house the 18,000 illegal aliens in California prisons. (source: US Govt. Accounting Office)
In my opinion this fence should have been built 20 years ago, I will follow this story very closely and look for ways to support Duncan Hunter's bill.
WASHINGTON -- A local 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 that critics say would do little to stop illegal immigration.
Rep. Duncan Hunter of San Diego, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, planned to announce legislation Thursday to 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 and 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 introducing 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.
The plan is controversial. Republican Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado recently announced his support, but Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has said he doesn't 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 3.5 miles of the border, over the objections of environmentalists, the California Coastal Commission and the local Democratic congressman.
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How about some quick figures on illegal immegration and how it is affecting us, shall we?
- 10.4 million illegal aliens reside in the United States.(source: Pew Hispanic Center)
- Every year, 500,000 additional illegal aliens enter the United States(source: Pew Hispanic Center)
- California's nearly 3 million illegal immigrants cost taxpayers nearly $9 billion each year (source: Federation for American Immigration Reform)
- Illegal aliens cost the federal government $10 billion more annually than they pay in taxes. (source: Center for Immigration Studies)
- Taxpayers pay $750 million annually to house the 18,000 illegal aliens in California prisons. (source: US Govt. Accounting Office)
*** *** ***
In my opinion this fence should have been built 20 years ago, I will follow this story very closely and look for ways to support Duncan Hunter's bill.
posted by Benji at 5:04 PM
4 Comments:
What about the immigrants that come into the U.S. by underground tunnles they have made. The fence seems like just another ignorant, horribly thought out plan. We already spend enough on them as it is. Just leave the border alone, they will always find a way to get to the United States, thats just how it is, and always will be.
Jarred, I totally agree that there must be a better solution that provides a long-term plan for how to get rid of this problem; and that's what it is, let's be honest, it's a problem for the US.
Consider in your thinking that the President of Mexico would like nothing better than to have as many of his countrymen jump the border illegally as possible...reason being that the Mexican families left behind by those that have "jumped" are the happy recipients of virtually all of the American dollars that would have gone to American taxes IF the Mexican workers were here legally, but since they're not; the money they make isn't taxed and does not go to helping America’s economy survive and thrive.
Band-Aid you say, I don't disagree that this would be a very small solution in the face of an incredibly complex and increasingly difficult situation to deal with.
Also, the fence isn't the only part of this bill that Hunter is trying to pass; he's also asking for an additional 10,000 border patrol officers...these wouldn't be stick figures, they'd be active investigating officers charged with the duty of guarding our borders against illegal immigration. The fence would only be part of the solution.
According to the quick figures I found about how much American citizens spend on illegals every year we are spending approximately 19,750,000,000.00!!! - That's nineteen billion, seven hundred and fifty million hard earned US dollars flushed down the widening drain of Mexican illegals every year!
If we can build a better security system at our borders for the cost of a few billion dollars so that we can cut that 19 billion dollar amount in half; I say it's worth it.
Question: There's a flood at the door that's going to wipe out your resources, your cultural identity and your safety, do you leave the door open or slam it shut and start plugging holes and leaks as you see them come up?
If it were up to me I would close the border between Mexico and the US and put the US Armed Forces in charge of protecting the border.
I should have put this in with my original post but I'll put it here...
Michael Savage has come up with his own sort of partial solution that would help with the financial burden that illegal Mexican immigration has become, I'm not saying it's a perfect plan but it's worth a thought...
Savage says:
"We all wring our hands over illegal immigration, and no one has a solution. We come up with mad solutions such as deport them all, which we know is technically almost impossible. We have another solution, which is grant amnesty to them all, which is equally crazy, if not more so.
Well, I've come up with a solution, which is oil for illegals. There are 20 million of them, roughly, in this country. Mexico is sitting on one of the largest proven oil reserves in the world. They can afford to pay us one barrel of oil per illegal per month. By giving us 20 million barrels a month, it would go a long way towards helping us in many different ways. We consume 20 million barrels a day, roughly, of oil; so if we got 20 million barrels a month, that would take care of one-thirtieth of our needs."
Why not?
I know what you mean bro, I do.
I guess at this point it's sort of like the burning candle syndrome...once the candle has burned down you can't rebuild the wax no matter how hard you try or in this case how much money you spend.
It's a sad state of affairs.
On the issue of stolen land, I know logically that you are right, but there again we can't go back...our only option is to move forward, whatever that looks like I'm sure we'll see it in our lifetime.
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