Arizona lawmakers say they will build border fence

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/arizona-lawmakers-build-border-fence-140342049.html

By AMANDA LEE MYERS and JACQUES BILLEAUD | AP – 8 hrs ago

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona is taking on immigration once again, with state lawmakers collecting donations from the public to put fencing along every inch of the state's porous Mexican border in a first-of-its-kind effort.

The idea came from state Sen. Steve Smith, a Republican who says that people from across the nation have donated about $255,000 to the project since July, when the state launched a fundraising website that urges visitors to "show the world the resolve and the can-do spirit of the American people."

Smith acknowledges he has a long way to go to make the fence a reality. The $255,000 collected will barely cover a half mile of fencing. Smith estimates that the total supplies alone will cost $34 million, or about $426,000 a mile. Much of the work is expected to be done by prisoners at 50 cents an hour.

The fence is Arizona's latest attempt to force a debate on whether the federal government is doing enough to stop illegal immigration. Key provisions of the state's contentious immigration bill were suspended by a judge, and Gov. Jan Brewer is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to get them reinstated. Brewer also signed the fencing bill.

Critics of the private fence plan say the idea is a misguided, piecemeal approach to border issues that will prove to be ineffective and hugely expensive. They point to the billions of dollars spent by the federal government to build fencing that hasn't stopped illegal immigration.

"You're going to get 50 yards of fencing, if that," says Alfredo Gutierrez, a former Democratic state senator and immigrant-rights advocate who ran for governor in 2002.

But Smith and other supporters don't care.

They say the federal government has done little to secure the border and that additional fencing will close gaps exploited by smugglers and illegal immigrants. Even if the fence isn't completed, Smith and others believe the project will send a message to Washington.

They have found support for the idea from Border Patrol agents.

"I take my hat off to them," says George McCubbin, a Border Patrol agent in Casa Grande and president of the National Border Patrol Council, the agency's union. "I don't believe it's the state's responsibility, but by them attempting this, they will continue to have this problem brought out, and hopefully someone will take notice of it."

Although he praises the effort, McCubbin thinks building more border fencing is "a waste of time."

"A fence slows down traffic. It doesn't stop it," he says. "You need to put your money in effective resources that you know will work."

He believes the federal government needs to crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants, increase penalties against those caught in the country illegally, cut off social services for others and put more agents at the border.

The fence project is being overseen by the 15-member Joint Border Security Advisory Committee, comprised of lawmakers, state law enforcement officials and four sheriffs, including Maricopa County's Joe Arpaio. The committee meets once a month and will decide when and where to put up the new fencing and what construction firms win bids.

Wherever they put it — private, state, or federal land — they will need to get approval.

Smith is confident the state will comply, so he's focusing his efforts on private landowners. It isn't clear if the federal government will allow the fence on land it manages.

"In light of their doing nothing, I would hope they wouldn't want to deter a state from protecting its own border," he says.

The project's first priority is to build fences at busy border-crossing points. Other plans include constructing fences along the 80 miles of border where none currently exist.

The law also allows Arizona to enter an agreement with California, New Mexico and Texas to build fencing in those states, although there's no immediate plan to do that.

Fencing currently covers about 650 miles, or one-third, of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border. Nearly half sits in Arizona — the busiest gateway for both illegal immigrants and marijuana — with the rest equally divided among California, New Mexico and Texas.

Existing border fencing varies in quality from simple barbed wire or vehicle barriers to carefully engineered, 18- to 30-foot-high fences.

On top of $2.5 billion spent by the federal government to build the fence, a government report projects it will cost another $6.5 billion over the next 20 years to maintain.

Smugglers often circumvent the barriers by cutting or driving through them, climbing over them, launching drugs with catapults over them, or digging tunnels under them. In the last week alone, two drug tunnels were found in Nogales in southeastern Arizona.

Despite the relatively low amount of money raised so far, Smith says work will begin sometime next year. One company has pledged to donate materials for a mile or two, another has promised to sell supplies at a discontinued rate, and some construction firms say they'll contribute free labor.

"Something will be in the ground by 2012," he says.

Edited November 24, 2011 by Why_Me

[Leatherneck 693]

How long before Holder and the boys show up to litigate.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Fences do not work.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Fences do not work.

We need a wall with titanium rods suck 40' in the ground...and I would like to see a minefield also. Blast a few of them to kingdom come and it sends a message not to break our laws by sneaking into this country illegally.

[The_Dude 1,142]

We need a wall with titanium rods suck 40' in the ground...and I would like to see a minefield also. Blast a few of them to kingdom come and it sends a message not to break our laws by sneaking into this country illegally.

You are aware that most illegal immigrants just come over as tourists right? How would a fence actually stop them?

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

You are aware that most illegal immigrants just come over as tourists right? How would a fence actually stop them?

Find em, jail em while waterboarding them for a few weeks and then send em packing back to banana land.

Edited November 25, 2011 by Why_Me

[The_Dude 1,142]

Find em, jail em while waterboarding them for a few weeks and then send em packing back to banana land.

I'd rather have someone here who is willing to work than some deadbeat who is suckling on the government teat, refusing to work.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

I'd rather have someone here who is willing to work than some deadbeat who is suckling on the government teat, refusing to work.

You liking illegals doesn't surprise me seeing how you live in The Peoples Republic of California where they like their illegals (law breakers).

[The_Dude 1,142]

You liking illegals doesn't surprise me seeing how you live in The Peoples Republic of California where they like their illegals (law breakers).

You misinterpret what I said. I don't like illegal immigrants, but they aren't as bad as deadbeat freeloaders collecting welfare and not working, cause they don't want to.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

You misinterpret what I said. I don't like illegal immigrants, but they aren't as bad as deadbeat freeloaders collecting welfare and not working, cause they don't want to.

I don't like dead beats sucking up welfare either. Less dead beats sucking up welfare might just mean a raise in unemployment benefits.

[The_Dude 1,142]

I don't like dead beats sucking up welfare either. Less dead beats sucking up welfare might just mean a raise in unemployment benefits.

That's quite a dichotomy Kip. You going to leave the U.S. soon, or just stick around basking in your hypocrisy?

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

That's quite a dichotomy Kip. You going to leave the U.S. soon, or just stick around basking in your hypocrisy?

I plan on retiring outside the US. Somewhere warm with cheap booze and lots of hot little third world chickies running around in shorts and bikinis. As long as Soc Sec and the union makes direct deposit the world is my apple.

[The_Dude 1,142]

I plan on retiring outside the US. Somewhere warm with cheap booze and lots of hot little third world chickies running around in shorts and bikinis. As long as Soc Sec and the union makes direct deposit the world is my apple.

You have to actually get a job to collect....

Edited November 25, 2011 by The_Dude

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

You have to actually get a job to collect....

Would you like to compare your retirement beni's vs mine? For every hour I work, I get $9.35 put into my union retirement package...even more when I work o/t. Throw in my 401k and Soc. Sec when I get ready to settle down along with a lifetime supply of Viagra and I'm sitting pretty in some third world country. How much does your outfit stick into your retirement ?

[Ban Hammer 13,503]

please stop the personal swipes. thank you.