Border Fence

This past October President Bush signed a bill for a third of the 2,100 mile border between the US and Mexico to be fenced. This project was estimated to cost roughly 2.2 billion dollars.  The border fence project is a step towards gaining control of our southern border in an attempt to stop the unending breach as hordes of illegal immigrants continue to swarm into the US. 10 months after the bill was signed we find ourselves still waiting for construction to begin. This on the heels of one of the most contintious efforts by congress over recent battles with what was being called immiration reform efforts. The more people learned of the proposals which were being worked out often behind closed doors the stronger the opposition became. A major sticking point was to grant 12 million or so illegals amnesty and supposedly put them on a path towards citizenship. Unfortunately the facts did not bear up under public scrutiny and an incredible backlash from grassroots organizations were largely successful in helping to defeat all atempts of passage much to the dismay and disbelief of our representatives in congress.We were expected to believe that the backroom deals would actually be useful and that without new legislation that the problem would become nearly insurmountable. Un huh, but why can’t existing laws be enforced and why hasn’t the fence already been built? New legislation would be the cure all but this is coming from a group of politicians who are incapable of building a fence that has already been funded. The same group expected us to believe that all the pie in the sky legislation would solve problems and myriad new laws would be the solution where enforcing existing laws is simply not possible. So how exactly would that incredible feat be pulled off? But then again, I guess we just aren’t capable of understanding and should not be questioning our enlightened elected representatives. That’s like a nightmarish “Father Knows Best” rerun and scares me to death. I for one will continue to question and will do my best to remain informed to the best of my ability.There is a severe credibility issue at stake with regard to congress having the ability to succeed at anything. Actual construction of the fence and active enforcement of immigration laws already on the books would go a long way towards improving their image in the public eye. It should be interesting to see how this situation will move forward. Regardless, something has to happen to stop the unending flood of illegals and the fence would certainly serve to help in those efforts.