Babeu: Build fence, deploy soldiers for double border barrier


By SHERIFF PAUL BABEU

August 8, 2011 - 10:10 am

Editor’s note: This column is the third in a four-part series on the debate surrounding Sen. Steve Smith’s successful sponsorship of a senate bill to create a website to raise money with private donations to build a fence along the Arizona-Mexico border. Smith’s and U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva's columns are already online. The fourth column, by local Democratic Party organizer Henry Wade, will be published in the upcoming days.

Arizona is doing what we can to help protect our citizens in the absence of the federal government doing its job and securing the border. Sen. Steve Smith’s plan to raise private money to construct a fence along the Arizona-Mexico border shows strong leadership.

According to the latest Government Accountability Report, 56 percent of the border is NOT under “Operational Control.â€