Ariz. seeks online donations to build border fence

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_border_fence_donations

By PAUL DAVENPORT, Associated Press – 1 hr 59 mins ago

PHOENIX – Arizona lawmakers want more fence along the border with Mexico — whether the federal government thinks it's necessary or not.

They've got a plan that could get a project started using online donations and prison labor. If they get enough money, all they would have to do is get cooperation from landowners and construction could begin as soon as this year.

Gov. Jan Brewer recently signed a bill that sets the state on a course that begins with launching a website to raise money for the work, said state Sen. Steve Smith, the bill's sponsor.

"We're going to build this site as fast as we can, and promote it, and market the heck out of it," said Smith, a first-term Republican senator from Maricopa.

Arizona — strapped for cash and mired in a budget crisis — is already using public donations to pay for its legal defense of the SB1070 illegal immigration law.

Part of the marketing pitch for donations could include providing certificates declaring that individual contributors "helped build the Arizona wall," Smith said. "I think it's going to be a really, really neat thing."

Construction would start "after we've raised a significant amount of money first" but possibly as soon as later this year, Smith said.

"If the website is up and there is an overwhelming response to what we've done and millions of dollars in this fund, I would see no reason why engineering or initial construction or finalized plans can't be accomplished," he said.

The nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border already has about 650 miles of fence of one type or another, nearly half of it in Arizona. The state's 376-mile border is the busiest gateway for both illegal immigrants and marijuana smuggling.

Department of Homeland Security spokesman Matthew Chandler said federal officials declined to comment on the Arizona legislation.

State Corrections Director Charles Ryan said getting inmate labor to help construct border fencing wouldn't be a problem.

Minimum-security prisoners already have been used to clear brush in immigrants' hiding spots near the border and clean up trash and other material dumped by border-crossers, he said.

Work crews of Arizona inmates also have been used to refurbish public buildings, build sidewalks and construct park facilities.

At 50 cents an hour, "we are a relatively inexpensive labor force," Ryan said. "If we have the funding to do it, we're capable of doing it."

Arizona's existing border security fund is being used to pay for legal costs of defending SB1070 in court, though Brewer's 2010 executive order creating the fund allows its money to be used for any "border security purpose." A federal judge has blocked implementation of key parts of SB1070, but Brewer has said she'll take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

The fund through Wednesday has received nearly 44,000 donations totaling more than $3.7 million, collected online and through mailed donations since May 2010. Roughly half of the money has been spent, and Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson said the balance is also needed for SB1070-related legal expenses.

Smith and other supporters of the border-fence legislation haven't produced any cost estimates for the state project, saying only that the state should be able to do it far more inexpensively than the federal government.

That still could be put the state's costs in the tens of millions of dollars — or more.

A 2009 report by Congress' Government Accountability Office said costs of federal fencing work to keep out people on foot ranged from $400,000 to $15.1 million per mile, while costs for vehicle barriers ranged from $200,000 to $1.8 million. Costs varied by such things as types of fencing geography, land costs and labor expenses, the report said.

Brewer signed the Arizona fence bill on April 28, and it will take effect with most other new state laws on July 20.

It took the bill about 2 1/2 months to land on her desk, easily winning approval on party-line votes during a legislative session dominated by budget-balancing work

During committee hearings and floor debates, Republicans said the state has a legal and moral obligation to take action because the federal government hasn't done enough to secure the border.

"My constituents want this thing fixed and fixed once and for all, and we're going to do it," Republican Sen. Al Melvin of Tucson said during a February committee hearing. "People should not be dying in the desert."

Democrats questioned the project's feasibility and called it a feel-good distraction from pressing for more comprehensive action on border and immigration issues.

"If we are here to pass symbolic legislation and not really address border security, SB1406 does the job. But people don't benefit from symbolic legislation," Democratic Rep. Catherine Miranda of Phoenix said April 18 House vote.

Under the bill, the border fencing work could be done either in conjunction with other border states or by Arizona alone.

Smith said the committee will consider where to build the fence and what kind of fence is needed.

But the eventual choice could be like double- and triple-fence barriers already installed along the border in Yuma County in southwestern Arizona because they appear to block crossings, he said.

Any type of fence would require approval of landowners, but Smith said he expects that to be forthcoming from the state and private land owners, including ranchers who have complained of break-ins and other trouble associated with smugglers and illegal crossings.

Individual ranchers likely will cooperate with the state fencing project, just as they have done with federal officials on placing helipads, watering stations and communications equipment to help officers patrolling the border, an Arizona Cattle Growers Association official said.

However, the 1,100-member association didn't take a position on the fence bill, said Executive Director Patrick Bray.

"We certainly appreciate the efforts put into this legislation, however the funding is a huge question. It's an empty solution because we don't know where the money is going to come from."

Bray added: "We want to stay focused on the overall border security issue. At this point we are looking for a more comprehensive security approach rather than this pieces that might come to fruition."

Edited May 8, 2011 by Why_Me

[eekee 182]

Next you'll be able to contribute in order to buy Arizona a certificate saying that they named a star after the state.

[^_^ 5,021]

Inmate labor at 50 cents an hour? When China does this we call it slave labor.

[Ban Hammer 13,490]

i wonder if there will be signs like those on the highway, something to the effect of "this portion of the fence funded by _______"

[TBoneTX 45,956]

i wonder if there will be signs like those on the highway, something to the effect of "this portion of the fence funded by _______"

And just think of the potential liability: You donate a section of fence, an illegal breaks through that section and harms someone, and...

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Make that fence out of steel, concrete and titanium and razor wire and see how many of em make it through.

[TBoneTX 45,956]

Make that fence out of steel, concrete and titanium and razor wire and see how many of em make it through.

Si, man, but they can dig under it or fly (catapult?) over it.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Si, man, but they can dig under it or fly (catapult?) over it.

That's where the minefields and rottweilers come into play.

[Peikko 1,575]

I can only hope those who abhor the idea of Messicans crossing the border without documentation are putting all their money where their mouth is

Though, somehow I very, very much doubt it

Edited May 9, 2011 by The Truth™

[peejay 327]

I can only hope those who abhor the idea of Messicans crossing the border without documentation are putting all their money where their mouth is

Though, somehow I very, very much doubt it

Not to worry Cleo. I'm sure enough of your hired help will get through so you won't have to soil your delicate hands doing the menial housework and yard work the rest of us do. Keep defending your precious illegal "Messicans". You ain't fooling anyone here. Another limousine Liberal.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Why not just eliminate any tax of any type to any employer that will comply fully with an employment verification system and hire ONLY US citizens and legal immigrants? No fence needed.

In other words, a HUGE tax benefit for those that will not exploit illegal immigrants as slaves to avoid employment regulations.

One problem that is causing this is the unreasonable burdens being placed on employers and the expenses. For example, in Vermont, construction employers are required to pay nearly a 60% premium on payroll for workman's compensation insurance. Workman's comp pays an injured employee only 66% of his "normal income". This means we are paying nearly 100% of the benefit in premiums! Imagine paying $200,000 per year for homeowners insurance for a home valued at $300,000 !!!! It used to be fairly easy to classify one's workers as contractors and avoid the expense and still use legal workers, but now they have changed the classification of what is an "employee" to be defined as the person receives "more than 40% of total income" from that source. In other words...the state wants their money! Vermont, being a long way from any source of cheap illegal labor, simply doesn't have many illegals. I am guessing the liberal Democrats here would hire them immediately if they were available to avoid the costs of all the worker "protections" they put in place. The illegals from Canada are quickly heading south where the weather is warmer. They are not Canadians, they are people from other countries that immigrated to Canada thorugh a more liberal system and jump the border to the US. If they are going to work for less than minimum wage, they at least want it to be warm.

So if you want to avoid having to pay nearly double the hourly wage for the worker (with other payroll taxes) you hire an illegal! The illegal has no protections. If he falls off the roof...too bad for him. He isn't even really "here"

The government HAS TO stop creating such huge economic incentives to hire illegals. They have to. Fences simply will not work.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I can only hope those who abhor the idea of Messicans crossing the border without documentation are putting all their money where their mouth is

Though, somehow I very, very much doubt it

You support the idea of exploiting humans and allowing employers to pocket billions while denying their employees basic human rights? No health insurance, no SS, no workman's comp, no minimum wage? Is that only for white people?

[peejay 327]

Why not just eliminate any tax of any type to any employer that will comply fully with an employment verification system and hire ONLY US citizens and legal immigrants? No fence needed.

Sounds good. Unfortunately we would have to weed out Obama, Napolitano, Holder, and all the other illegal alien cheerleaders that infest our government and actively circumvent existing immigration and employment eligibility laws for their own selfish gain. E-Verify has been a reality for years. Why isn't it mandatory?

[Peikko 1,575]

You support the idea of exploiting humans and allowing employers to pocket billions while denying their employees basic human rights? No health insurance, no SS, no workman's comp, no minimum wage? Is that only for white people?

As you very well know, I do not. I support the introduction of work visas to allow Mexican workers to take up manual labour positions legally in the US if they so wish not the building of walls to keep them out. Work visas would allow for people to come and go back as the labour was required (which is what they would like to do, most have family in their home country and have no intention of emmigrating). Building a wall is just an expensive white elephant. I am very happy that it is a white elephant that can be constructed at the expense of those who think it's smart and not at tax payer expense.

Not to worry Cleo. I'm sure enough of your hired help will get through so you won't have to soil your delicate hands doing the menial housework and yard work the rest of us do. Keep defending your precious illegal "Messicans". You ain't fooling anyone here. Another limousine Liberal.

Personal insults and batiing are not acceptable on VJ, you know that.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Seems like usual pointless grandstanding that abounds over this isssue. Rubbish.