Friday, October 27, 2006
Map of the U.S. to Mexico border.File:Noga36.jpg
A fence barrier separating Nogales, Arizona, from Nogales, Sonora, near the main downtown border crossing.
Border fence on the beach of Tijuana.Today U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law the Secure Fence Act of 2006, a plan to build a 700 mile (1,125 kilometer) fence between the United States and Mexico, to prevent illegal immigration. Mexico has expressed strong opposition to the fence, which covers about one third of the total border length.
"Unfortunately, the United States has not been in complete control of its borders for decades and therefore illegal immigration has been on the rise," Bush was quoted saying. "Ours is a nation of immigrants. We're also a nation of law... We have a responsibility to address these challenges. We have a responsibility to enforce our laws. We have a responsibility to secure our borders. We take this responsibility seriously," the President explained.
Congress passed the bill last month with a convincing majority, but the signing has been delayed until now, 12 days before the mid-term elections in the U.S. Yesterday the president already envisioned funding and manpower increases for border control, and extra beds to counter the "catch-and-release at our southern border".
Earlier this month, Bush arranged a $1.2 billion budget for the fence, along with cameras, sensors, satellites and other security measures, to create a "21st-century" border —but the fence alone is roughly estimated to cost twice that amount. A U.S. poll this week showed that there are more Americans in favor of an increased number of Border Patrol agents, while less then half of those questioned agreed with the fence.