Border Fence

. The U.S border with Mexico spans almost 2,000 miles from the states of California to Texas, and illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and other security breaches along the border have been issues of growing concern for decades. After September 11, 2001 the call to secure American borders increased and the idea of expanding physical layers of security along the Mexican border began to gain serious importance in the minds of lawmakers. Signed into law by Ex-President George W. Bush, the Secure Fence Act in 2006 mandated the construction of almost 700 miles of barrier fence along the Mexican border; proponents of the physical fence believe that the barrier will act as a strategic impediment for those who wish to cross the border from Mexico into the United States illegally. While the wall proposed is 700 miles long, the US-Mexico border is roughly 2,000 miles long. This means illegal immigrants will simple try to cross over the two-thirds of the border that is not covered by the fence. A fence along the US-Mexico border should not be built as it will not stop illegal immigrants from entering the United States. Supporters of the Secure Fence Act believe that while the 700 mile fence might not cover the entire span of the border, it will cover one-third, channeling illegal immigrants to the remaining two-thirds of the border; therefore, border patrolmen will be able to better concentrate their efforts on the remaining two-thirds of the border with better results. After the construction of the San Diego Fence, many illegal immigrants began crossing through alternate routes. For example many illegal immigrants began crossing through the Arizona desert, this caused many of San Diego’s border agents to move out there. T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council in 2006 said, “Tucson now has 2,600 agents, San Diego has lost 1,000 agents. Guess where the traffic is going? Back to San Diego! San Diego is the most heavily fortified border in the