Invasion - LET'S REMEMBER THE FENCE - CoverUps.com

March 2008

Don't let election campaign drama distract us from building the fence

While the national dramas of our Election campaigns continue on to play out, let’s not forget to keep our eye on the wall

A Fox News-Opinion Dynamics poll indicated the American people favor a proposal to build a 2,000-mile security fence by a 51-to-37 percent margin. That hasn't changed in some time. But with the Election 2008 machine in full gear, the candidates have not really talked about the wall too much.

• The total illegal alien population was estimated by Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge at 8 to 12 million in December 2003, but Lou Dobbs of CNN regularly uses 20 million as a more realistic number.
• The sea of illegal aliens provides a cover for and an environment in which terrorists can reliably enter into and hide in the United States.
• As long as the average per-capita income differential between U.S. citizens (over $30,000) and those of Mexico (less than $4,000) is so wide, it will be difficult to stop immigrants from coming here. The lure of a better life is just too strong.
• Mr. Bush's guest-worker proposal would create a legal means – a renewable three-year work visa – for new immigrants to enter the country and take jobs that Americans supposedly don't want.
• Illegal immigrants already living here would become eligible for guest-worker status after paying a fine.
• By one estimate, between 400,000 and 1 million undocumented migrants try to slip across the rivers and deserts on the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) US-Mexico border each year. In 2005, over 1.2 million illegal immigrants were apprehended by the Border Patrol.
• By one estimate, the Border Patrol catches one out of every four illegal border crossers. This is typically the estimate public officials use in discussing the problem. Official Internal Border Patrol statistics show that one in five illegal aliens are apprehended and arrested. Other estimates suggest a much lower capture rate. Such wildly inconsistent numbers are a cause for great worry.
• Apprehensions along our southern border make up about 97-98% of total apprehensions.
• Most of those apprehended near the southern border are Mexicans. But figures are also kept on captures involving “Other Than Mexicans” or “OTMs”. The number of OTMs apprehended has increased dramatically – from 28,598 in 2000 to 65,814 in 2004.
• As of 2005, just over 80 miles of federally enforced barriers and fencing were located at strategic points on the border, mainly in Texas and California.
• Operation Gatekeeper sealed much of the San Diego border, with 14 miles of fencing and stadium lighting. A 10-foot-tall primary fence made of welded steel was completed in 1993 along a 14-mile section of the border from the Pacific Ocean to the Otay border crossing.
• Construction of a 14-foot-tall secondary fence about 130 feet north of the existing barrier has been completed, except for a section along the last few miles near the beach.

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US-Mexico Border Fence / Great Wall of Mexico
Secure Fence

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Our Take

We can’t let the golden but empty bromides emanating from our presidential candidates distract us from the pressing issue of our southern border problem. Illegal immigration does not magically go away in an election year. We should be mindful of the candidates’ position on getting the wall built.