EDITORIALS & OPINION

Mending Fences

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 2/13/2009

Homeland Security: Remember the border fence? The one being built is not the fence authorized by Congress, and its effectiveness is in doubt. As Mexico implodes, a proper fence is infrastructure we really need.

The Secure Fence Act of 2006 required the construction of 700 miles of new border fence along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border. "The secretary of Homeland Security shall provide for at least two layers of reinforced fencing, the installation of additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras and sensors," the act said.

It was to be modeled on the success of the barriers in the San Diego sector of the border with Mexico. But instead of this two-layer secure fence, what has been built consists of flimsy pedestrian fencing or vehicle fencing consisting of posts people can slither through.

Illegal aliens have used cutting torches on the vehicle barrier posts that are called a "fence."

These vehicle barrier posts are settling into the ground, and gaps between the posts are widening. In one spot, average-size illegal aliens would be able to wedge themselves through the gaps.

Significant stretches of fencing have been built, but according to a report by the Government Accountability Office sent to congressional committees on Jan. 29, little of it is double-layer fencing. "As of Oct. 31, 2008, CBP (Customs and Border Protection) reported that approximately 32 miles of secondary fence existed along the southwest border," the report said.

One problem is an amendment to a 2007 omnibus spending bill that lifted the two-layer fence requirement and gave the homeland security secretary discretion in the location and type of fence built.

In other words, DHS could put up a chain-link or picket fence if it wanted. This was done to placate land owners worried about fences carving up their property and appease environmentalists worried about hampering the migration of endangered critters.

Funds were even diverted to building a virtual fence using technology that didn't work too well.

As Mexico descends into chaos, more will be needed to protect us from drug lords and cross-border violence. A failed state to our south without a secure border is an invitation to disaster.

As senator, Barack Obama voted for the two-tiered fence. But his DHS secretary, former border state Gov. Janet Napolitano, reportedly once said: "You show me a 50-foot fence and I'll show you a 51-foot ladder at the border."

The two-tier fence in San Diego runs 14 miles along the border with Tijuana, Mexico. The first layer is a high steel fence, with an inner anti-climb fence and a no-man's land in between.

It's been amazingly effective. According to a 2005 report by the Congressional Research Service, illegal alien apprehensions in the San Diego sector dropped from 202,000 in 1992 to 9,000 in 2004.

That's the fence that Congress intended in 2006, and that's the fence we need to build. It would be stimulus money well spent. Build it and they won't come.

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