Border Fence - What's the Latest?

[presidio]

My wife says if the United States would just disolve the Mexican government and take over Mexico as another state, then the Mexicans would be all for it. They hate their own government. I think it's a good idea. The state of "Old Mexico"..... economy would improve, people would be happier....... We would have a new oil field to draw from and be able to put Pemex out of business 

Let's see. Mexico has 31 states, so that would mean 62 additional senators, but no increases in total representatives since the house is at full capacity space-wise. Therefore, NY, CA and TX (at a minimum) would be giving up representative positions. Of course 62 new senators would also overload the chamber, but senators are a fixed entity for each state while reps are based on population, so the additional senators would somehow have to be accommodated. Of course this could be handled by simply using the federal facilities in Mexico City as a supplementary site, linked by videoconferencing.

The present southern border is 2,000 miles. The southern border of Mexico with Guatemala and Belize is somewhere around 750 miles, so there is less to patrol. Of course, why stop there? If you incorporate the top half of Panama by making the border the Canal, you have reduced the border to around 100 miles and it is all water.

Two flies in the ointment. These other nations have no interest in this happening, just like we'd not be decidedly unmotivated about becoming part of Canada. Also, by incorporating Mexico (or other nations) you are making instant citizens. What would the immigration xenophobes complain about then? Well, they'd find something new to threaten their narrow views.

[stingrey]

To transition back to the other potential detriments of the wall, this article about Jaguars in Arizona was on CNN this a.m.:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/05/05/jaguars.fence/index.html

Interesting read... And for reference, Mr. Hamilton (Rob, Mark, can't remember his first name at the moment per my lack of sleep) had a lion presentation in December or so where he said that someone claimed to have seen a panther in the park. It isn't too unheard of, if you think about it. Stranger things have happened! What this wall will do is effectively hurt the wildlife more than anything else. With all this talk about the environment and global warming, you'd think that the things we can ACTUALLY do with any sense of immediacy would be put up front for us to collectively make the right decisions for the RIGHT reasons.

[SHANEA]

Supreme Court backs fast-track for border fence   

[SHANEA]

On the Border of Fear

“Fences don’t make friends,” his brother Louis says. “Good relations, respect, is the best wall that anybody can have.”

[SHANEA]

As my friend says, "Getting kicked off our land still happens today--Please distribute this as widely as you can."

[SHANEA]

Rowland Nethaway: Texas side of border brawl

A security fence along the Texas-Mexico border would either have to snake back and forth in the middle of the river, which is too stupid to even contemplate, or require the taking of land owned by Texans in order to erect an ugly fence that cuts them off from the river.

[SHANEA]

Muro del Odio, Wall of Hate, is one name border residents have given to the forbidding barricade the Department of Homeland Security plans to build in Texas communities from El Paso to Brownsville.

[SHANEA]

<a href="http://www.current.com/e/88854009" target="_blank">http://www.current.com/e/88854009</a>

[SHANEA]

This Desert QuietNot that it is illegal to walk to the river, mind you. Only you should be prepared for the green-and-white, a round of intrusive to aggressive questioning, and possibly, as local papers have recently reported, arrests over strong words uttered by one Redford resident who wanted La Migra to get off his land. Hello terroristic threat charges. We’re still awaiting the unofficial, official guidebook on interacting with the federal police forces (”down-cast eyes express submissiveness,” “if all else fails roll over on your belly,” etc.)[/url]

[SHANEA]

Apaches Defend Homeland from Homeland Security

"There are two kinds of people in this world, those who build walls and those who build bridges," said Enrique Madrid, Jumano Apache community member, land owner in Redford and archaeological steward for the Texas Historical Commission.

[SHANEA]

Border fence case is rejected

“It's over. They're going to build a wall,”

On April 1, two additional waivers cleared the way for construction in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, with one waiver encompassing 470 miles.

So far, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has waived more than 40 laws and regulations. As of June 13, 331 miles of fencing had been built, with about as much still to go.

Although yesterday marked the end of the line for the Arizona case, said Defenders of Wildlife attorney Brian Segee, there is still a chance that another legal challenge may prevail. The Texas case, which Segee said has yet to be heard, represents not only local governments but also tribal and environmental interests, and covers a much larger area than the Arizona litigation did.

[SHANEA]

DHS passes $1B spending mark on SBI

Your tax dollars hard at work, minus the economic stimulus rebate check that you received..   

The Homeland Security Department has awarded Boeing more than $1 billion — an amount higher than what was previously disclosed — for work on the Secure Border Initiative system that the company is installing along the Mexican border in Arizona, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

The SBI project, which includes SBInet, is one of the largest DHS contracts, with a projected cost of more than $30 billion to c o er land borders with Canada and Mexico. It has been controversial because of delays, technology and performance concerns, and privacy concerns.

[SHANEA]

Not sure how the border fence will help out instances such as this...

Border agent guilty of smuggling illegal immigrants

$350 * 100 = $35,000 / 5 years = $7000 per year, but...

He also agreed to pay a monetary judgement in the amount of $500,000 - the amount of proceeds derived from the alleged criminal activity.

Some how the math doesn't add up?

[presidio]

Not sure how the border fence will help out instances such as this...

Border agent guilty of smuggling illegal immigrants

$350 * 100 = $35,000 / 5 years = $7000 per year, but...

He also agreed to pay a monetary judgement in the amount of $500,000 - the amount of proceeds derived from the alleged criminal activity.

Some how the math doesn't add up?

What likely happened is this:

The prosecutor could only positively identify 100 or so cases of smuggling, or chose to only use that number as part of a plea bargain. The house and the $500k are the kind of proceeds that are hard to explain on a cop's salary and, under the circumstances, are presumed to be the profits of a criminal enterprise. There's likely a lot more to the case than ever will be revealed.

More interesting about these kinds of incidents is the fact that the enforcers are afforded automatic trust while the public is afforded automatic suspicion. Consider a situation developing where an air marshal is in a similar mode and does not have the interests of the public at heart. Anytime you have people working in such politically-charged environments where the stakes and profits are high and you will at least occasionally find someone weak to do the bidding.

[Red Hawk]

Ted Williams weighs in...

Paradise Lost
The Rio Grande Valley in south Texas is one of this nation’s most biologically rich areas—home to our largest remaining stand of sabal palms, rare ocelots, and bird species found nowhere else. So why would the United States be planning to build a wall that would do little to stop illegal immigration, do a lot to harm wildlife, and effectively cede much of this land to Mexico?
By Ted Williams

More here: http://audubonmagazine.org/incite/incite0807.html