Secure the border! Where is our fence?
All these are questions we hear daily from folks who feel strongly about immigration.
However…and this is a big however…this is a picture of Israel. The Israelis are increasingly uneasy about the political volatility in Egypt.
The Washington Post:
The new border fence, about 15 feet high, is the most tangible sign of Israel’s growing unease about the upheaval in Egypt, which has aggravated shaky security conditions in the Sinai Peninsula bordering Israel. Israeli concerns were heightened in August when gunmen who crossed from Sinai struck on the border road north of Eilat, leaving eight Israelis dead.
That attack led to the acceleration of work on the border fence, which, when complete, will run about 140 miles from Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip south to the Eilat area. Originally intended as an obstacle to the thousands of African migrants and asylum seekers who sneak across the frontier annually, the barrier is increasingly seen as a bulwark against security threats emanating from Sinai.
But the rising fence is also a metaphor for how Israel sees itself in a changing Middle East: Beset on all sides by profound shifts in its Arab neighbors that could alter the strategic balance in the region, it is bolstering its defenses and preparing for the worst.
Perhaps the United States is in far better shape than it thought. Our situation is rather simple compared to the complexities of the middle east. We simply want to keep people out who do not have permission to be in our country…or is that really the reason?
Back to Israel. The picture below shows the proposed Israeli border fence:
These folks aren’t just woofing!
140 miles isn’t much ground to cover compared to the US borders.
Congress does not want to find nor build a fence.
Congress does not want to fund nor build a fence.
Where would we build one? Just along the southern border? How would we handle private land? There are environmental conflicts. Who pays for the fence? How is it secured?
Once a fence is built, it seems to me that all it does is challenge a taller ladder in places where there is not observable security.
How many miles is the border and how pays for the fence? how about those tunnels?
The federal government pays for the fence as it is a national matter. We handle the private land as we always do…easements. There are environmental conflicts. If we can’t fix it…too bad. If it makes it harder to cross…good. No fence is perfect. Its a deterrent..not a solution.
One of the problems is that the existing fences are ON the border. Our Border police are being targeted from Mexico. Put up another fence 100 yards in…now they would be on our side and still stymied.
We actually don’t need to fence the entire border. Treat the fence as a funnel and that forces the crossers into more inhospitable areas, and makes them easier to pick up.
Well, if a fence isn’t the solution, and many here don’t want the states enforcing Federal law, and the Feds won’t enforce the law, then we’re screwed! Might as well learn Spanish, and disband all HOA’s, loitering laws, drug enforcement, business license, driver’s license, and tax law enforcement. Third World status, here we come! The streets may become filled with trash, but our lawns will look oh so nice.
Well, let’s see–the Antonine Wall didn’t work, Hadrian’s Wall didn’t work, the Limes Arabicus didn’t work, the Great Wall of China didn’t work, the Berlin Wall didn’t work and things are still getting blown up in Israel. Is there something we are missing here? George Santayana might have an answer for us–“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”. You cannot build a wall high enough, deep enough or long enough to keep put those who seek to escape tyranny or who desire a better life. Our ancestors came here for these and other reasons and even if you are a “Native American”, your people came from somewhere else seeking something better than what they had. Maybe what we need to do is figure out how to make citizenship simpler–now you have to hire a lawyer to do so. What’s wrong with that picture?
Hadrian’s Wall did work. As did the Great Wall of China, and the wall in Israel IS working.
Walls and fences are not perfect. But Hadrian’s, China’s and Israel’s fences RESTRICT access. Its a FIRST line as opposed to NO LINE of defense.
A fence or a wall is a tool for the PEOPLE to use when denying access.
I do agree that we have to reform our citizenship process.
@Cargosquid
May I suggest you go back and read some history. Yes, they may have slowed things down, but they did not stop anything. Maybe what we should do is annex Mexico–then citizenship is not an issue. Even your ancestors came here from somewhere–WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM? Is it that these folks have more melanin than you do?