Bush signs U.S.-Mexico border fence bill

Of the $1.2 billion to be spent, not a single dollar will go to feeding, clothing, educating or healing of a single individual. This will become a very expensive monument to fear and arrogance.

Associated Press

By SUZANNE GAMBOA, Associated Press Writer - WASHINGTON -

President Bush wanted an exchange of workers with Mexico to bring order to the border, but wound up signing a law Thursday that approves partitioning 700 miles of the United States from its southern neighbor.

The administration once talked of "orderly migration" — workers entering the United States and returning to Mexico or other countries when their jobs were finished. But political realities have replaced phrases like that with "border security" and plans for fences, surveillance cameras, unmanned aerial vehicles and watch towers.

Bush still wants a guest-worker program. But the toughest resistance to that idea has come from his own Republican Party — and has intensified as the midterm elections have drawn near.

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The bill didn't come with any new funding, and the $1.2 billion that Congress previously approved is not enough to build the full 700 miles of proposed double-layer fence.

A 14-mile stretch under construction in the San Diego area is estimated to cost $126.5 million. Costs differ depending on terrain, environmental issues and whether private property is involved.

Sen. Jon Kyl (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., said Congress will add more money each year to erect the fence.

"Within about three years, we should have about 370 miles," said Kyl, whose state would be virtually sealed from Mexico through fencing and other barriers.

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Ralph Basham said the fence could take many forms, from chain link to solid wall, depending on where it is placed. The shape will be determined with the help of Boeing Co., which was awarded a $67 million contract to install a high-tech "virtual fence" along 28 miles in Arizona.

"There is a will to get operational control of the borders and I believe they (lawmakers) are serious about this," Basham said. "It's going to mean Congress is going to have to stay serious about this and continue to fund it."

Skeptics say the money to build the full 700 miles will never materialize and the bill signing was merely a political gesture.

"The president and this Congress had a historic opportunity to pass a tough but fair immigration reform plan this year, but instead that chance was squandered by those Republicans who are more concerned about the ballot box than actually providing real solutions," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass, a chief architect of the Senate legislation Bush had supported.

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The public thinks Democrats can do a better job of handling immigration, by 44 percent to 37 percent, according to an AP-AOL News poll released Thursday.

But when people are asked specifically about putting a fence along the border with Mexico, a majority in another recent poll supported the fence. Polls over the past year show people have mixed feelings about immigration: They oppose providing illegal immigrants with easy access to the country but favor providing immigrants fair treatment once here.

A bill passed by the Senate would have allowed immigrants to remain and eventually become citizens after working, paying fines and back taxes and learning English. The House approved a separate bill that focused on enforcement measures such as subjecting those in the country illegally to felony prosecution. The two chambers failed to meet to negotiate a compromise before recessing for the elections.

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Associated Press Writer Lynn Brezosky in Harlingen, Texas, contributed to this report.

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The fence law is HR6061.