Now About Those Fences

Completely lost from the public scene, given the maelstrom occurring in the House, was that the Congress passed a Border Fence Bill that has to rank among the dumbest pieces of legislation ever to come out of that body. First of all, the bill authorizes 700 miles of fence for a 2,000 mile border. That's a serious math problem, and even if you're the most Minuteman-y anti-immigrant Mexican-basher around, you'd probably look at this and think "How is this going to do anything?" Second of all, at least 75 miles of this thing are scheduled for tribal land in Arizona, who object to its placement (and it's their land). Next, it's not just the Arizona tribe that doesn't want this fence, but pretty much every community that's actually on the border:

"That's just a big waste of money," said Vickers, a Texas Republican activist who heads a group opposed to illegal immigration that until recently was the state branch of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps.

"The Rio Grande is the lifeblood of South Texas," he said. "A wall is just going to stand between farmers and ranchers and others who need legitimate access to water. It's not going to stop the illegals."

From Laredo to Brownsville, a meandering 200-mile stretch of the Rio Grande that would be walled off if President Bush signs, as expected, the bill to fence 700 miles of the border, reaction was overwhelmingly negative.

Many of these Texas border towns blossomed on the riverbanks not even a football field away from Mexico, a bilingual, binational culture where everyone knows someone on the other side. Here, the fence was widely seen as a federal government misadventure that would trample private property rights without accomplishing anything.

"Whether it's over rivers or deserts — or now, this wall — people will keep coming, as long as they can find a job here that's so much better," said Angelica Garcia, 26, a worker at a shop on McAllen's bustling Main Street that caters to Mexicans visiting Texas. "This wall isn't going to do a thing."

This article was pretty fascinating, since it described a situation on the border where much of the economic activity comes from Mexicans crossing over to shop. It also generated outrage that the Rio Grande River, one of the more majestic sights in the American Southwest, would be WALLED OFF. Money quote:

"Zero — that's how many people I know who support this. People are opposed from Brownsville to El Paso," said Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster, head of a group of frontier leaders called the Texas Border Coalition.

I want to to try and name a benevolent society that erects a wall, whether to keep immigrants out or its own citizens in. There's East Germany, there's dynastic warlord-era China, there's, more recently, Saudi Arabia. Keep thinking.

Oh, and given the expected cost overruns and labor shortages (except for immigrants), there's little chance this thing even gets built.

Basically the GOP leadership decided to pick the most toothless, symbolic option that will do nothing to stem the tide and will only make people who think like them feel better. Bravo.

And bravo to Mike Allen for telling it like it is.

To Mike Allen, a former Catholic priest who helped the poor in the colonias of Texas' Hidalgo County, then switched careers and became a leading economic booster for the border region, the fence is a manifestation of politics at its ugliest.

"It is just so sad that the relationships we have worked years to build are being torn down by politicians in Washington, who quite frankly don't have any idea what they are doing," Allen said.

"I'll say it: It's the browning of America, and people are afraid of that. That's what this is all about. I have lived on the border most of my life. I'm not scared."