DeMint Presses For 'Real Fence' To Secure Our Borders
By Lee Bandy
SouthCarolina Insider
March 11, 2008 — U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint of Greenville is pushing a major bill through Congress that sets 2010 as the deadline for completing a 700 mile pedestrian fence along our southern border with Mexico. “Americans demand a secure border and the fist step is to complete the fence,” he said in introducing the measure. “Our nation’s borders are fundamental to our national security and our sovereignty,” the freshman senator maintained, “and we can’t delay any longer. If we want to have a legal immigration system that works, we must have a secure border so we know who is entering and leaving the United States.” An estimated 13 million Mexicans are living in this country illegally’ The issue has emerged as one of the hot topics in this year’s presidential campaign, especially with Republicans. It has caused the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee, John McCain of Arizona, serious problems with the conservatives in the Republican Party. In September of 2006, President Bush signed a bill that required 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the U.S.-Mexican border. In direct conflict with the requirements set by Congress in that bill, Department Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff attempted to count vehicle barriers that stand only a few feet high and can easily be walked around. DHS claims to have completed 302 miles of fencing by counting 134 miles of vehicle barriers. DHS has only completed 167 miles of physical, pedestrian fencing. Last week in testimony before Congress, DHS officials admitted that the “virtual fencing” that was to account for nearly 300 miles of the 700 mile fence, is not working as promised and will not be operational for at least three more years. The technology encountered numerous problems that included software integration, synching cameras with the radar system, trouble identifying objects around desert trees, rain interference, and easy targets for drug traffickers to disable. “Border security cannot wait any longer, and we cannot depend on failed virtual fencing or vehicle barriers that won’t stop pedestrians,” DeMint said. “We must keep our promise to America and build a real fence to secure our borders immediately.” It is estimated that over a half a million illegal immigrants enter the U.S. every year. The southern border has become the gateway for smuggling cocaine, heroin, marijuana and crystal meth into the U.S. It’s where the disgusting and immoral practice of human trafficking happens, with thousands of people sold into modern day slavery and prostitution, DeMint said. And most importantly, he added, the border is a national security threat that leaves the U.S. vulnerable to terrorists and weapons of mass destruction. |
