Congress OKs 700 miles of fence on border with Mexico

[CFLarsen]

Congress OKs 700 miles of fence on border with Mexico

Republicans will go into the elections with a message that they've made great strides fighting illegal immigration, including authorizing a fence along one-third of the U.S.-Mexico border and making a $1.2 billion down payment on it.

Among its final tasks before leaving to campaign, the Senate on Friday night passed and sent to President Bush a bill authorizing 700 miles of fencing on the nearly 2,000-mile long southern border.

No one knows how much it will cost, but a separate bill also on the way to the White House makes a $1.2 billion down payment on it. A 14-mile segment of fence under construction in San Diego is costing $126.5 million.
Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_wall)

...

[CFLarsen]

Oops! I linked to the wrong place.

Here is the correct one. (http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/29/fence.congress.ap/index.html)

Apologies.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

What is to keep Mexicans from going around it?

Only in Washington does this make sense.

[bob_kark]

That'll teach those Mexicans... how to climb a fence...

[Foolmewunz]

Two words: Election Year:rolleyes:

[Kopji]

Our helpful Congress passed a law back in May that removes the requirement for any kind of environmental impact report. This will not only cost a lot and do nothing, it may well be an environmental catastrophe to animals that now freely migrate across the border.

[qayak]

Won't the U.S. be surprised when Mexico puts a lock on their side of the gate! :D

[clarsct]

So a 700 mile fence on a 2100 mile border?


Who's going to build it?

[Zep]

They could make it stretch the 2100 miles, but it would only be two feet tall.

[CFLarsen]

(still waiting for the other shoe to drop.....)

[Kopji]

The funding for the fence will come in a separate bill to be passed after the elections.
:rolleyes:

[Cheesejoff]

$1.2 billion could improve the quality of life for many mexicans, why not just give them the money instead so they have no need to emigrate?

[Zep]

They could get a job building a 700 mile long fence...

[Mephisto]

So a 700 mile fence on a 2100 mile border?


Who's going to build it?

Good point! As Carlos Mencia said, "how are you going to build and paint a 700 mile fence without Mexicans?"

This will placate all the ethno-centric idiots into thinking a solution has been reached (nevermind that it's at least as viable solution as "stay the course"), but it's sure to be a large waste of lots of money - after all, they couldn't even build a levee that worked, how are they going to build a 700 mile fence that works?

[Dave1001]

Why not build a 700 mile long cancer research institute there instead for 1.2 billion dollars?

[Mephisto]

Why not build a 700 mile long cancer research institute there instead for 1.2 billion dollars?

[Bush imitation] Well you see, heh heh heh, that would be helping people and we're not about helping people unless they're being tortured by a ruthless dictator, heh heh heh. [/Bush imitation]

[Hutch]

So a 700 mile fence on a 2100 mile border?


Who's going to build it?


Well, I'm sure that there are some (albeit elderly) East Germans who would know a thing or two about building fences...:p

[CFLarsen]

Finally someone gets it...(since nobody checked out the first link)

[jay gw]

I'm sure that there are some (albeit elderly) East Germans who would know a thing or two about building fences...

Mostly that they're effective.

[Darat]

Mostly that they're effective.

Especially if you have guards instructed to prevent anyone crossing at any cost e.g. shooting them.

[Darth Rotor]

...
A minefield would be cheaper and more effective, particularly if observed by UAV's and dispersed outposts.

A fence can be climbed.

DR

[rockoon]

The mine field solution has some beauty to it.

You stick up signs that say "Danger: Mine Field" (in both english and mexican) all along the border. This will cause the illegals to follow one another in straight lines, eventualy wearing a visible path into the landscape.

You then stick a mine on the path.

*BOOM*

No big minefield to clean up but the same basic effect.

[TragicMonkey]

I'm sure Walmart could import the Great Wall of China for us.

[steverino]

Maybe Bechtel, the company that built the Big Dig tunnel project in Boston could build a Big Fence along the border.;)

http://www.boston.com/news/traffic/bigdig/articles/2006/07/24/probes_may_test_bechtels_clout/

[fishbob]

A minefield would be cheaper and more effective, particularly if observed by UAV's and dispersed outposts.

A fence can be climbed.

DR

Uh oh. Emminent domain issues and safety concerns.

A fence would help keep livestock in, but a minefield would hamburgerize the livestock before it is sold. You would need a fence to keep stuff on the US side away from the minefield.

[Darth Rotor]

Uh oh. Emminent domain issues and safety concerns. A fence would help keep livestock in, but a minefield would hamburgerize the livestock before it is sold. You would need a fence to keep stuff on the US side away from the minefield.

Good point, not all border is a river.

How about this. Minefields with modest game fences, about 30 yards deep. Call it an easement. (The game fence system boxes in the mines.) There are thousands of miles of that sort of fence in Texas, heck, in most Western states. ANyway, every few miles, there are openings for game/livestock to go through. Oh, and people can sneak through the openings, which is why you have the UAV surveillance positioned, and the mortars registered on the gaps.

Livestock and game can go through, people get fragged. Or, 155mm artillery. Mortars a better idea, or you'd blow up too much fencing.

I'll draw up a proposal and send it up to Congress.

If I can get a percentage . . . wheee, I can make a million on pork futures! Barreled pork! I am so gonna golf for the rest of my life. :D

DR

[TragicMonkey]

How about a haha? Those things are pretty cool. And it just sounds so cool:

"Today construction was completed on the world's longest haha."
"The president dedicated the Pancho Villa Memorial Haha in a ceremony"
"Fifty-three were killed today on the US-Mexico Border Haha."
"Since we crossed the Haha, we have worked hard to make new lives for ourselves."
"Mr President, tear this haha down!"

[BPSCG]

What is to keep Mexicans from going around it?

Only in Washington does this make sense.Well, as someone else pointed out, it worked pretty well at keeping east Berliners inside east Berlin, and it's working pretty well at keeping Palestinians out of Israel.

Does a solution to a problem have to be perfect before implementation? If so, maybe we should all ditch all the imperfect software on our computers, hm?

[JamesDillon]

Well, as someone else pointed out, it worked pretty well at keeping east Berliners inside east Berlin, and it's working pretty well at keeping Palestinians out of Israel.

Does a solution to a problem have to be perfect before implementation? If so, maybe we should all ditch all the imperfect software on our computers, hm?

I believe that both of those fences also featured heavily armed guards willing to shoot on sight in order to accomplish their deterrent effects. Should we implement that feature as well?

(That said, I'm not particularly opposed to this, though it seems like a waste of money for very little benefit).

[Darth Rotor]

I believe that both of those fences also featured heavily armed guards willing to shoot on sight in order to accomplish their deterrent effects. Should we implement that feature as well?

Yes, or the fence is a gesture, not a real deterrent.

Is the political will present, to use hot lead to defend the border? That is unknown, but at the moment, I think the answer is no.

DR

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Well, as someone else pointed out, it worked pretty well at keeping east Berliners inside east Berlin, and it's working pretty well at keeping Palestinians out of Israel.

Does a solution to a problem have to be perfect before implementation? If so, maybe we should all ditch all the imperfect software on our computers, hm?

Except that the Berlin Wall encircled Berlin. So no one could walk around it. Bad example.

[BPSCG]

Except that the Berlin Wall encircled Berlin. So no one could walk around it. Bad example.You're assuming that the border wall has to be a perfect deterrent. This is not a birth control device, where a ten percent failure rate would be disasterous. If people have to drive 300 miles to get around the wall, a certain percentage of them will be discouraged from doing so. Additionally, if the wall is there, but incomplete, it will still funnel would-be border crossers into a smaller area, where it will be easier to catch them.

It's not perfect, but the problem is not that our border is completely impervious, but rather that it is almost completely porous.

[jay gw]

The costs of illegal immigration are so high the wall/fence will pay for itself right away.