A Good Step In Border Security

Fire of Liberty

This past Friday I sat up until 2:30 in the morning watching Congress pass various important pieces of legislation which included the Terrorist Detainment/Interrogation Bill, Defense Bill, Port Security Bill, as well as a bill that presents $1.2 billion in appropriations for the building of some 750 miles of double-layered fencing along our southern border. While the 750 mile fencing is not a comprehensive immigration bill that resolves the problem of the 12 million illegal immigrants who currently live here it's still a good start in the right direction in slowing down the flow of illegals thus providing us time to fully assimilate the people already here and lessening the financial burden(Welfare, Health Care, Education, Crime) on the various border states. Amongst the various MSM pieces I've read on the most recent passing of this bill, it seems that Martin Sieff, senior news analyst of United Press International, has written a good piece that rightly sums up why the building of such a wall can have a positive impact on slowing down the massive inflow of illegal immigrants on our southern border. Here's a sample:

Impressed by the Israeli example, India rapidly followed suit in building a security fence along the Line of Control in Kashmir. Indian security officials later said this fence cut the number of incursions by Islamist guerrillas operating from their havens in Pakistan by as much as 90 percent. The Indians have therefore pushed ahead with building another, even longer fence, around the nation of Bangladesh to cut back on Islamist guerrilla incursions from there.

Even Saudi Arabia has followed the Israeli example by building a massive security fence along its southern border with Yemen. Interestingly, the strategic purpose of the Saudi fence has much more in common with the U.S.-Mexico fence than with the Israeli one. The Israeli fence was built to choke off a vicious suicide bomber offensive against civilians. The Saudi fence, like the U.S. one, was built primarily to keep out a flood of illegal immigrants from a far poorer neighboring country to the south, and to prevent terrorist groups like al-Qaida from being able to funnel agents and weapons at will across the frontier.

In the long term, the success of the border fence will be determined by grand strategic developments on both sides of the Rio Grande. Continued stability and improved economic growth in Mexico will be the most important factor in cutting back illegal immigration pressures. And on the northern side, even if the current Bush administration and its deeply divided Republican Party will not crack down on the almost universal employment of illegal immigrants, state governments and future administrations may.

Either way, the current legislation does not appear to be designed to solve current problems so much as to alleviate them. It appears to be a measure designed to buy time. But time is often the most precious commodity any political measure can buy.

If it slows down this mass migration then the states will find a little relief and allow Congress more room to pound out a much need but properly written policy to figure out what to do with the folks who are here illegally.