Border Fence Authorized -- But Will It Ever Be Built?
by Jim Brown
October 27, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A Republican senator is hailing it as the strongest effort to secure the U.S. border with Mexico in his lifetime. But one expert on political violence and terrorism doubts the border fence authorized by President Bush's signature on Thursday will ever become reality.Yesterday the president signed a law authorizing construction of 700 miles of fence along a third of the U.S.-Mexico border. At the signing Bush acknowledged "the United States has not been in complete control of its border for decades." If the barrier is built as planned, the state of Arizona would be virtually sealed from Mexico. Congress had earlier authorized $1.2 billion for construction of the double-layered fence, but most observers agree that will not be enough to build the entire fence.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham says immigration reform is not possible without a secure border. "We have doubled the budget for border security since President Bush has been in office from $4 billion to $10 billion," he notes. "By 2008, we will have doubled the number of Border Patrol agents from 9,000 to 18,000. This particular piece of legislation authorizes 700 miles of fencing in urban areas where people can literally walk across the street at our borders."
Graham says in addition, the National Guard has been deployed to the borders, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles and other sensors to control the wilderness area of the border. Still, he laments, more must be done to cut back on the number of illegal aliens flooding into the U.S.
"We must address why illegal immigrants [are crossing the border] -- and that's to get jobs," says Graham. "We need to hold employers accountable for who they hire, give them a chance to document their workforce, [and] come up with a temporary worker program that will allow the American economy to flourish and immigrants to do jobs that Americans choose not to do." Although the senator says he opposes amnesty, he supports a "guest worker" program for illegal immigrants.
Doubt Expressed About Reality of Fence
Skeptics say the money to build the full 700 miles of border fence will never materialize. But the leader of a coalition group has a different opinion on the matter. He contends the fence will never actually be built because of a secret agreement the president reached with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and former Mexican President Vicente Fox last year in Waco, Texas.
Jerome Corsi with the "Coalition to Block the North American Union" says Bush pledged to Martin and Fox that he would do everything within his power to erase America's borders with Canada and Mexico. The Coalition contends the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" (SPP) plan would erase U.S. borders, replace the dollar with the "amero," and allow unfettered immigration. Corsi -- along with Howard Phillips of the Conservative Caucus and Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum -- is urging passage of House resolution that would effectively block the SPP.
"We want to draw attention to the congressmen and the senators to demand the 110th Congress have open investigations and hearings on what SPP.gov is doing," Corsi said during a news conference at the National Press Club on Wednesday. "And we challenge President Bush ... that if SPP.gov is doing nothing except improving our commerce and prosperity, then there's no reason not to hold hearings. Why are the documents of spp.gov being held secret from the American people?"
And Corsi has his doubts concerning the effectiveness of a fence should it be built. He is convinced that protecting the border around North America will not stop terrorists from getting into the U.S. He believes the American public casts doubt on the seriousness of President Bush to wage a war on terror in Iraq because he is allowing Middle Easterners to cross into the U.S. from Mexico and form sleeper cells in the U.S.
"President Bush will have no war on terror as long as Mexico is whom we're relying upon to secure our borders of North America," Corsi stated.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
