Senate OKs 700-Mile Border Fence

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WASHINGTON — 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 new miles of fencing on the 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.

The fence bill was passed by the House two weeks ago. The Senate vote on it Friday night was 80-19.

In addition to money for starting work on the fence, a homeland security bill passed Friday by the House and later by the Senate includes $380 million to hire 1,500 more Border Patrol agents and money to build detention facilities to hold 6,700 more illegal immigrants until they can be deported.

"We have made giant steps in terms of our ability to control illegal immigration," House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters.

The fence bill became House Republicans' immigration focus in September after they abandoned President Bush's call to bring millions of illegal immigrants into the American mainstream.

In addition to the money in the Homeland Security spending bill, Boehner cited Bush's deployment of the National Guard on the border and more frequent arrests of illegal immigrants at work sites.

"The perception that has been painted mistakenly is that the United States government, our Congress is not delivering to the American people on a huge problem that's out there," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. "We're active."

Democrats and immigration advocates say Republicans can hardly claim victory.

House Republicans failed to win measures for deporting immigrant gang members and empowering local police to enforce immigration laws. Their biggest obstacle turned out to be another Republican, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the border security achievements trumpeted by Republicans don't measure up to the more comprehensive reforms her party backed. What the GOP calls achievements fall "very far short of what Democrats have proposed over and over and over again," she said.

After a debate that stretched over three months, the Senate in May passed a sweeping immigration bill that combined tougher border enforcement measures with new guest worker programs and a plan to give millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S. a shot at citizenship.

Despite Bush's ringing endorsement of the measure, the House would have no part of it, sticking to the bill it passed five months earlier that would treat illegal immigrants and people who offer them aid as felons.

Rather than negotiate a compromise with the Senate, Republican leaders plucked out many provisions of the House bill for new votes in both the House and Senate over the past two weeks.

"It's been two years of high visibility, high volume debate in terms of which way to go in the immigration system," said Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum. In the end the debate ended in a tie, he said.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., called the fence "a bumper sticker solution for a complex problem."

"It's a feel-good plan that will have little effect in the real world," he said. "We all know what this is about. It may be good politics, but it's bad immigration policy. That's not what Americans want."

Sens. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., made a 11th-hour appeal to colleagues to include in the fence bill a measure to help the agriculture industry, which relies heavily on undocumented workers.

Those workers have become harder to find because of increased border enforcement and availability of jobs for the workers in construction and other industries, they said. Consumers ultimately will pay the price for that at the grocery store, they added.

"Pickers are few and the growers blame Congress," Craig said, reading a news headline. "The growers ought to blame Congress. They ought to blame a government that has been dysfunctional in an area of immigration that has been problem for decades."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216797,00.html
 
If I was the republicans, I wouldn't be patting myself on the back too hard. The republicans are every bit as much to blame for the illegal alien problem as the democraps... maybe even more, since Bush is and has been willing to sell our country down the crapper by handing out amnesty.
 
If I was the republicans, I wouldn't be patting myself on the back too hard. The republicans are every bit as much to blame for the illegal alien problem as the democraps... maybe even more, since Bush is and has been willing to sell our country down the crapper by handing out amnesty.

Too damn right, PR. That's why I want to make it clear that I'm not trying to deflect blame away from Republicans by quoting this piece, from the article...

Pale Rider said:
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., called the fence "a bumper sticker solution for a complex problem."

...because I think the spotlight SHOULD shine on these Republican bastards - particularly SENATE Republican bastards. They thought we were stupid - that they could slick us. They're finally figuring out that this is not the case.

No - I quote Kennedy because he sums up the attitude of a lot of politicians - from both parties. And it's just not all that complex a problem. We're either a fucking nation of laws, or we're not.
 
The Roman Empire and Ancient Egypt both began their decline at about the same time that uncontrolled "immigration" happened. Both nations had a problem with invaders and with foreigners attempting to settle within their boundaries.

In both cases, the invaders and the foreigners won.

Egypt was invaded by the Libyans, who eventually took over and ran the country (followed by the Nubians, the Persians, the Greeks and finally the Romans).

Rome was invaded by a host of tribes, the Huns for one, and the Visigoths, who eventually sacked Rome in 410 A.D. under their king, Alaric I.

Building barriers to uncontrolled influxes of invaders is not new. The Roman Emperor Hadrian built a wall to separate what is now Scotland from England. It still stands to this day. Its purpose was to keep out the Picts, who kept raiding the northern reaches of the Empire. Of course, everyone has heard of the Great Wall of China, it purpose was similar to Hadrian's Wall, to keep out the Mongols.

I believe that I've shown that nations that haven't deal with uncontrolled influxes of foreigners have eventually paid the price.

MM is right, this isn't a complex problem. All that is needed is to enforce the laws that are already on the books. The fence is only half of the solution, however. Mass deportation and prosecution of those who knowingly hire illegals is the other half.

Finally, I agree with Pale and MM, shame on the Republicans for playing politics with such an important issue.
 
I agree with both you and mm Karl. The situation is NOT complicated. And every time I hear someone say, "we can't deport 13 million illegal aliens", I want to puke. Where did that defeatist attitude come from? I hear that even coming from Republicans. Where did the old saying, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going" go? Are all these people trying to convince me that there's a problem right here INSIDE OUR BORDERS that we CAN'T TAKE CARE OF?

I got one word for those defeatist, sell outs... BULLSHIT!

Build the wall, start fining the bank account off of company's that hire illegals, and start mass deportations. What the hell is "complicated" about that?

Here's a question... if we can't take care of a few million illegal aliens RIGHT HERE IN AMERICA, then what in the holy flying fuck are we doing half way around the world in a FORIEGN country trying to do it over THERE?
 
The wall is a start. They better not end it there. They had better not think that people will now get off their butts and support them for spending a billion dollars on a wall. Thats not how you make Conservatives happy. If you had done your job right in the first place, we wouldnt have to be spending a billion dollars on a wall.

Build the wall to keep more from coming, but find the ones here and send them back. With the wall in place, its harder for them to get back. Gradually, we begin to see the illegal numbers diminish. Hospitals can stay open again. Schools will not be overrun with illegals. Roving gangs shouting mexican obsenities won't be gunning down kids in the street.

You started it off right, now finish it up.
 
The wall is a start. They better not end it there. They had better not think that people will now get off their butts and support them for spending a billion dollars on a wall. Thats not how you make Conservatives happy. If you had done your job right in the first place, we wouldnt have to be spending a billion dollars on a wall.

Build the wall to keep more from coming, but find the ones here and send them back. With the wall in place, its harder for them to get back. Gradually, we begin to see the illegal numbers diminish. Hospitals can stay open again. Schools will not be overrun with illegals. Roving gangs shouting mexican obsenities won't be gunning down kids in the street.

You started it off right, now finish it up.

Right, they are over 1300 miles short, but no accomodations for those that are here illegally. Failure on two points.

I say, they should come out and say, 'it's a beginning.' If you are here illegally, figure out how you can be here legally or make plans. If you cross over on the 1300 unfenced and are caught, you will NEVER be here legally, returning to Mexico or not.
 
1.2 BILLION dollars for 700 miles of fence?? If my math is correct, that works out to $1,714,285.71 -- over 1.7 million dollars per mile! This fence must be going to be the Cadillac of all fences...maybe gold-plated too? :rolleyes:
 
1.2 BILLION dollars for 700 miles of fence?? If my math is correct, that works out to $1,714,285.71 -- over 1.7 million dollars per mile! This fence must be going to be the Cadillac of all fences...maybe gold-plated too? :rolleyes:

Not too mention worthless. There will be over 1300 miles of unfenced border.
 
I agree with both you and mm Karl. The situation is NOT complicated. And every time I hear someone say, "we can't deport 13 million illegal aliens", I want to puke. Where did that defeatist attitude come from? I hear that even coming from Republicans. Where did the old saying, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going" go? Are all these people trying to convince me that there's a problem right here INSIDE OUR BORDERS that we CAN'T TAKE CARE OF?

I got one word for those defeatist, sell outs... BULLSHIT!

Build the wall, start fining the bank account off of company's that hire illegals, and start mass deportations. What the hell is "complicated" about that?

Here's a question... if we can't take care of a few million illegal aliens RIGHT HERE IN AMERICA, then what in the holy flying fuck are we doing half way around the world in a FORIEGN country trying to do it over THERE?

:clap:

I couldn't agree more.
 
1.2 BILLION dollars for 700 miles of fence?? If my math is correct, that works out to $1,714,285.71 -- over 1.7 million dollars per mile! This fence must be going to be the Cadillac of all fences...maybe gold-plated too? :rolleyes:

Hopefully what they mean when they say "fence", is something that's multi barrier, underground, and hard to traverse.
 

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