Bid to seal off US-Mexico border

[Croppyboy]

BBC - Bid to seal off US-Mexico border

A senior US Republican is pushing for the construction of a 2,000-mile (3,200km) fence along the entire length of the US-Mexico border.

Duncan Hunter, who chairs the Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives, hopes to win enough support to pass a bill in Congress.

Critics of his bill say many immigrants enter the US legally but simply remain in the country when their visas expire.

More than 1m Mexicans are stopped from entering the US each year to seek work.

Mr Hunter's plan for the fence envisages a dual-layer construction equipped with electric sensors stretching from the Pacific Ocean across to the Gulf of Mexico.

The fence would be surrounded by a new border buffer zone to the north and would be studded with 25 new official points of entry along its route.

High costs

A 14-mile (22km) westerly stretch of the border to the south of San Diego is currently protected by two layers of fencing.

Much of the lengthy frontier, though, is barely patrolled and protected only by ditches or barbed wire at best.

"Illegal aliens continue to funnel directly into many of our local communities and adversely impact our way of life," said Mr Hunter, a California congressman.

He said that the lessons of 11 September 2001 taught Americans that immigration was a national issue that required national solutions.

Earlier this week Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he aimed to achieve an "extremely high probability of detecting, responding to and interdicting" all illegal immigration.

In the absence of a fence, independent groups such as the Minutemen have begun patrolling stretches of the border hoping to catch illegal migrants.

Opponents of the fence have criticised its likely costs - estimated at about $8 billion (£4.5bn) - and the slim chances of wiping out all illegal immigration.
 

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/4407558.stm

Published: 2005/11/04 15:09:44 GMT

© BBC MMV

Will it pass? I wouldn't hold my breath . . .

[Vandaler]

He said that the lessons of 11 September 2001 taught Americans that immigration was a national issue that required national solutions.

 

Edited.

 

Lessons thought by 9/11 uh?  all the 9/11 hijackers had visas and entered the US legally , mostly through Orlando, Miami, Washington, or New York. None came across the Mexican border.

 

Also, scores of persons from Middle Eastern countries are caught each year trying to slip across the southern border, and many more doubtlessly go uncaught. But statistics show twice as many come across the Canadian border. And so far there is little or no evidence that any of them are terrorists.

 

This argumentation points to a more effective defense by building a fence along Canadian border does it not?  

It's none of my business, and the US can do what ever it wants with the border with Mexico... but the reasons outlined are bogus and hide something deeper.

 

Using 9/11 to advance a political agenda hmm, I've heard that before.

 

Borrowed some text from www.factcheck.org

[Roman]

I absolutely agree with you, Vandaler.
 
 Immigration?  Immigration is no problem -- at least, not in the U.S. America should  consider itself blessed with the fact that many of its demographical  necessities are being fulfilled by members of the same  Christian-inspired civilization (though not Christian anymore). Take a  look at what could happen if instead of Mexico, the Maghreb was  America's southern neighbor.
 
 Are there problems? Naturally,  there always are, mostly caused by an absurd "multiculturalism",  supported by the American "elites" themselves. But look at the streets  of Paris and be grateful: there have been riots in America, but not  inter-civilizational struggles.
 
 For an interesting view of  demographical problems faced by other Western nations, see  http://www.spectator.co.uk/article_pfv.php?id=6859 .
 

[Vandaler]

Roman,

 

Did you forget the L.A. riots or you're making a distinction between both... They seem similar both in cause and nature to me... But I'd like to hear your thoughts.

[InquisitorGeneralis]

Have you guys ever thought about the interaction of affirmative action policies and immigration?
 

[Roman]

Roman,

Did  you forget the L.A. riots or you're making a distinction between  both... They seem similar both in cause and nature to me... But I'd  like to hear your thoughts.

 
  Oh, I believe they are quite different, though they appear similar. If  I may venture in historical analysis, I would say that the abominable  racial riots in America, which have been less common since the 1990s  (after three decades of frequent riots) are the signs of a mere (even  if serious) societal malfunction, initiated by slavery, continued by  segregation, and given new breath with the culture of victimization.
 
  Now, we can certainly see the same culture in France, but the riots  there look like merely a prelude to the complete end of what remains  (very little) of Western Civilization, on the hands of people who see  themselves not only as victims and as disenfranchised, but as enemies  of the State, of the people, and of the West as a whole. Those French  riots will end soon enough, but their significance will not be lost to  The Enemy Within Europe...
 
  What great irony to a country whose national day is the celebration of a riot...
 

[VoxClamantis]

Lessons thought by 9/11 uh?  all the 9/11 hijackers had visas and entered the US legally , mostly through Orlando, Miami, Washington, or New York. None came across the Mexican border.

 

They did. And millions of illegals also cross the Mexican border.

 

I am for toughening up border patrols, but don't pretend that that's the solution to prevent hijackers.

[VoxClamantis]

I absolutely agree with you, Vandaler.

Immigration? Immigration is no problem -- at least, not in the U.S. America should consider itself blessed with the fact that many of its demographical necessities are being fulfilled by members of the same Christian-inspired civilization (though not Christian anymore). Take a look at what could happen if instead of Mexico, the Maghreb was America's southern neighbor.

Are there problems? Naturally, there always are, mostly caused by an absurd "multiculturalism", supported by the American "elites" themselves. But look at the streets of Paris and be grateful: there have been riots in America, but not inter-civilizational struggles.

Sounds like what you're saying is, basically, immigration in America isn't bad because Paris has it worse.

[Vandaler]

They did. And millions of illegals also cross the Mexican border.

 

What do you mean by "they did" Vox?  The hijackers?

 

But, according to the 9/11 Commission, none of the 9/11 hijackers entered the United States by crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, and all of them had visas issued by the US State Department. According to a staff report from the commission, some of the 19 hijackers entered the US several times, always through US airports. The report  said, on pages 7 and 8, that the first hijacker flew in through Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 15, 2000. " All others entered through 8 airports on the East Coast, including 11 entries through New York area airports and 12 through Florida airports." One would-be hijacker, Mohamed al Kahtani, tried to fly in through Orlando but was turned away when he aroused suspicions of an alert Immigration official and later became hostile and gave evasive answers when interrogated.

 

In fact according to the 9/11 Commission's final report, al Qaeda selected many of the hijackers based largely on how easily they could obtain legal entry into the United States. For example, according to the commission, Nawaf al Hazmi and Khalid al Midhar, two of the five al Qaeda terrorists who hijacked American Airlines Flight 77, had few other qualifications for a mission to the US:

9/11 Commission Report, p. 215: Their only qualifications for this plot were their devotion to Usama Bin Ladin, their veteran service, and their ability to get valid US visas. Neither had spent any substantial time in the West, and neither spoke much, if any, English. 

http://www.factcheck.org/article352.html

[VoxClamantis]

They did. And millions of illegals also cross the Mexican border.

 

What do you mean by "they did" Vox?  The hijackers?

 

 

My bad. I was responding to the highlighted part of this quote:

Lessons thought by 9/11 uh?  all the 9/11 hijackers had visas and entered the US legally , mostly through Orlando, Miami, Washington, or New York. None came across the Mexican border.

-- and not the second part. In other words, I know that the hijackers were here legally. But that doesn't change my opinion on the necessity of patrolling our borders for other reasons...