698 Miles of Fences

NYT reported House Republicans voted on Thursday night to toughen a border security bill by requiring the Department of Homeland Security to build five fences along 698 miles of the United States border with Mexico to block the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into this country.

698 is a good start, but I would like sto see them fence in the entire thing.

The amendment to the bill would require the construction of the fences along stretches of land in California, New Mexico, Texas and Arizona that have been deemed among the most porous corridors of the border.

I guess starting there is the best we can do this year.

The vote on the amendment was a victory for conservatives who had long sought to build such a fences along the Mexican border. But the vote was sharply assailed by Democrats, who compared the fences to the Berlin Wall in Germany.

The Berlin Wall was built by the East Germans (under pressure from Russians) to keep East Germans from escaping. If you want an analogy, this wall would have to have been built by Mexico. This is exactly the opposite from the Berlin Wall, but who would expect Democrats to be smart enough to know that.

Twelve Republicans also voted against the amendment.

Shame on them.

Representative David Dreier, Republican of California, hailed the fences as a necessary tool to ensure border security. Construction of the barriers is to include two layers of reinforced fencing, cameras, lighting and sensors near Tecate and Calexico on the California border; Columbus, N.M.; and El Paso, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Laredo and Brownsville in Texas. The border security bill, which cracks down on illegal immigration and now mandates the construction of the fences, is expected to pass the House on Friday.