Congress is rushing to finish up business so that members can get back to their districts and get down to the serious business of begging for our votes. In their wake, they are leaving the usual bunch of stupid new laws, but this proposal strikes me as particularly dumb:
The Senate gave final approval last night to legislation authorizing the construction of 700 miles of double-layered fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border, shelving President Bush’s vision of a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. immigration laws in favor of a vast barrier.
The measure was pushed hard by House Republican leaders, who badly wanted to pass a piece of legislation that would make good on their promises to get tough on illegal immigrants, despite warnings from critics that a multibillion-dollar fence would do little to address the underlying economic, social and law enforcement problems, or to prevent others from slipping across the border. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) surprised many advocates of a more comprehensive approach to immigration problems when he took up the House bill last week.
The problem ? The border with Mexico is a bit more than 700 miles long:
Lawmakers from both parties conceded that even at 700 miles in length, the barrier would leave nearly 1,300 miles of border uncovered.
Meaning this is just another cheap political stunt.
September 30th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
I don’t agree that this is just a “cheap political stunt,” Doug. I think it’s simply listening to the will of the voters.
While I agree we need to fence the whole border, this 700 mile addition to the walls we already have is a good start, and will likely reduce further illegal immigration. The argument has been made that illegals will just tunnel under it or drive over it, but I don’t think anyone who’s seen what the actual thing will look like — double walls of reinforced concrete and steel with a patrol zone between them — thinks tunneling under it will be easy.
Besides, a wall doesn’t have to be perfect to be effective.
So viva el muro! Thanks Congress for giving us this wall.
Now we’ve got to:
**expand the number of cities and towns across the country that are passing Hazleton-like laws making life very tough for illegals to live in their towns (already happening)
**push for more of the border to be walled (likely to happen when certain non-walled-off areas become hotspots)
**change the perverse interpretation of the 14th amendment that gives anyone born here, even illegally, U.S. citizenship
**deport criminal illegal aliens
**crack down on employers who hire illegals
**train local law enforcement in deportation proceedings (already happening, e.g. Herndon and Manassas, Va.)
Once we do these six things — none of which are very expensive or difficult to so — I predict we’d cut our illegal population down from about 18 million (don’t believe that 11.5 million # they’re always throwing out!) to about 4 or 5 million. Then we’ll be a country again. Si se puede!
September 30th, 2006 at 1:45 pm
North Korea, missile radar, and more
South Korea and the United States are taking a new approach toward North Korea to get talks started again. New approach … same as the old approach, or just redrawing the line in the sand, again? But not to worry,
October 1st, 2006 at 9:38 am
Orkon,
Congressmen and Senators will go back to their districts this week and claim that they “did something” about illegal immigration. In reality, they’ve done nothing. That’s why its a cheap political stunt.
And, while I may agree with some of your points, the one I think is entirely unrealistic is any assertion that deporting every person here illegally will ever happen.