The Implications of Border Politics
01 November 2006
by Christian McPhate, Contributing Writer for AnaiRhoads.org
AnaiRhoads.org - On Oct. 26, President Bush signed legislation, authorizing 700 miles of fencing along the U.S. border.
Bush gave words of praise for the fence bill, "It's an important step toward immigration reform."
He went on to state that he still wanted tougher border security and work-site enforcement as well as his guest worker program that could lead to a path of citizenship for the some 12 million undocumented workers in this country.
Mexican officials denounced the fence plan.
"Walls don’t resolve anything,” President-elect Felipe Calderon said. "It's a grave error."
Fence advocates in Congress said that their first responsibility is to ensure the integrity of the U.S. border.
Currently, 90 miles of fencing protects the southern border from undocumented workers, including 14 miles in the San Diego area.
The new law authorizes the construction of at least two layers of reinforced fencing around vast stretches of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
In addition, congressional leaders want to make changes to the law in mid-November after elections, giving the Department of Homeland Security the option of "alternative" physical infrastructure and technology when fencing is ineffective or impractical.
Bush said that he was looking forward to working with Congress on a "rational middle ground" between giving citizenship and launching "a program of mass deportation."
However, the new law has crashed head on into much opposition in parts of the Southwest, including the Texas Border Sheriffs' Association and the city of El Paso.
"Many bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., have never seen the rural border and don't understand the unique problems we face," Rick Glancey, executive director of the Texas Border Sheriffs Coalition, said. "Please don’t let a policy wonk in D.C. decide."
In addition, as the enforcement of the border security rages to a full inferno, areas like Alir Jegk, a reservation village of 50 Native American families in Arizona, are facing an even graver danger than before by facing pressure on all sides by aggressive bands of immigrants, drug smugglers and federal agents.
Another problem facing the reservations scattered about the southern region, dates back to the mid-90s when the Clinton administration cracked down on illegal crossings in El Paso and San Diego. Instead of capping a lid on the over brewing problem of drug and people smuggling, the illegal operations just rerouted their traffic through the desert lands of the Southwest.
About 11,000 Tohono O'odham live on a 2.8 million-acre reservation with a 75-mile-long border with Mexico. The flow of drugs through the area have caused numerous problems, ranging from 1,500 illegal immigrant crossings to the six tons of trash littering the land from the illegals, not including the abuses of the land and property by the federal agents. As the government takes more of their nation's sovereignty away, mixed feelings of anger and acceptance spill forth from the native people.
The cost estimates for the fencing exceeds $10 million per mile of wall, for a price tag of over $2.1 billion. However, this figure does not include maintenance or the increased manpower needed to patrol the new wall.
Bush signed the bill, authorizing the New Berlin Wall, but did not include how they were supposed to come up with the money to pay for the eyesore.
Here's an idea:
Why not change our focus off the Middle East and on to our southern friends? Why not support the Mexican presidency and help weed out the corruption flowing through the government and in essence, use the powers of all-mighty capitalism to help boost their economy, much like China has boosted their own, and give the 12 million plus undocumented workers a reason to stay home?
Because that would make too much sense.
More Articles...
| 
