Building a fence is a bad idea conceived by morans [View All]

After Canada, Mexico is our largest trading partner. We share a border of almost 2,000 miles with Mexico, and trade that totals $286 billion a year. The movement of goods and services is accompanied by the movement of people. In 2004 some 175,000 legal immigrants arrived from Mexico, along with 3.8 million visitors for pleasure, 433,000 business visitors, 118,000 temporary workers, 25,000 intra-company transferees, 29,000 students and exchange visitors, and 6,200 traders and investors. At the same time, 1 million Americans live in Mexico and 19 million travel there each year as visitors. U.S. foreign direct investment in Mexico totals $62 billion annually.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/29/AR2005112901101.html

Chertoff did seem to send a message to the fence fanatics by noting that the administration would stop short of building "a giant wall across our borders." But not even groups such as "We Need a Fence" want a wall. They just want a fence. With government spending completely out of control, Congress and the White House might just be crazy enough to spend $8 billion on a border fence that stretches from sea to shining sea.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/07/EDGQIF5H461.DTL

But some critics say such a barrier is inhumane and ill-conceived, a logistical nightmare that could jeopardize local border economies, threaten the environment and ultimately cost U.S. taxpayers billions upon billions of dollars.

The fence proposal, which passed overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives on Dec. 16, calls for a double-layered barrier along some of the most vulnerable stretches of the 1,951-mile border, including a 227-mile section of the Rio Grande in Texas.

The Mexican government has come out swinging against the fence and other proposed congressional anti-immigration measures, calling them xenophobic and disgraceful.

snip:
"I think it would be like the Berlin Wall," said the longtime resident of Carricitos, a small community on the Rio Grande. "Didn't they tear that down? A lot of people here don't want it."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/12/30/MNGKIGEN6E1.DTL

Do we really want to militarize the US border which lies with a country we're friendly with? The cost would run into the billions and a five minute search showed who supports this...RW racist nutjobs who get a friendly nod from this administration. bush and his cabal won't do anything unless they're forced to...which will be nothing.

Oh, and this fence-building scheme has been around for years. It's failed to get much traction for a very good reason.