May 12, 2011

On the Fence over Border Security

Douglas J. HagmannBy Douglas J. Hagmann
Northeast Intelligence Network

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It appears to be true that in Texas, everything is bigger, including the lies that directly affect our national security. On Tuesday, Barack Hussein Obama gave a speech in El Paso, where he indirectly mocked and ridiculed those critical of illegal immigration and his administration’s efforts, to date, to secure the 1,969 mile expanse between the U.S. and Mexico.

As published on the White House web site, the following was excerpted from his speech:

THE PRESIDENT: You know, they said we needed to triple the Border Patrol. Or now they’re going to say we need to quadruple the Border Patrol. Or they’ll want a higher fence. Maybe they’ll need a moat. (Laughter.) Maybe they want alligators in the moat. (Laughter.) They’ll never be satisfied. And I understand that. That’s politics.”

Obama further stated that he was joined by “an outstanding Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, who’s been working tirelessly on this issue.” (Applause.) “Our commissioner who’s working diligently on border issues, Alan Bersin, is there, and we appreciate him — Bersin.” (Applause.) “So they’re doing outstanding work.” — Barack Hussein Obama, Remarks on Comprehensive Immigration Reform in El Paso, Texas (10 May 2011).
Tirelessly? Diligently? Outstanding work? Seriously?

On 27 October 2006, former President George Bush signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which was legislation to construct a 700-mile, double-layer border fence along southwest border of the United States. According to current reports, a mere five percent of that fence, or just over 36 miles, has actually been constructed. That is dismal to be certain.

But wait, it gets worse. Compare that figure to the 2009 Government Accountability Office (GAO) status report on the project that determined that only 32 miles of the mandated fence has been constructed. This means that according to the government’s own statistics, only about 4 miles of the security fence has been constructed under the Obama administration.

Additionally, the Government Accountability Office’s director of homeland security and justice issues, Richard Stana, told a U.S. House Subcommittee last February that the Border Patrol actually “controlled” only 129 miles of the border. Yet in March, Janet Napolitano stood on a bridge that connects El Paso to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, where she proudly proclaimed that border security is “better than ever.”

In a shameful display of hubris, it was at an El Paso Border Security Conference in August 2009 where both Napolitano and Bersin refused to watch a video showing illegal immigrants easily crossing an unprotected and unfenced 14-mile span of the southern border from Mexico. It is Bersin who believes that the best way to secure our border is to develop a “legitimate labor market between the United States and Mexico.”

And therein lays the real plan and larger objective.


Related Links
Obama Demeans Himself on Immigration - American Thinker
Jeffrey: Where Obama's Border Lies - CNS News
Arizona Attorney General blasts Obama on border security - Tucson Citizen
Morning Bell: Illegal Immigration Is No Laughing Matter - Heritage.org
Republicans from border states hit Obama on immigration push - Washington Times