Border Wall Is Still A Stupid Idea

In an obvious effort to appeal to the anti-immigrant and racist wing of the Republican base, several of the GOP presidential candidates have revived talk of building a wall between the friendly nations of Mexico and the United States. This is especially dumb considering the fact that President Obama's administration has deported more undocumented immigrants than the Bush administration did, and the number of immigrants trying to enter the United States has fallen drastically due to the deplorable American economy.

I have discussed in the past about how the border fence is an unworkable solution to immigration problems, that is an insult to our Mexican neighbors and an environmental and economic disaster for both sides of the border. It now turns out that the fence can cause or exacerbate flooding problems in the border area -- flooding problems that are totally unnecessary. before any more building is done, those wanting the silly fence should read this article by Scott Nicol in the Rio Grande Guardian. Nicol says:

Comparing Our Northern And Southern Borders

The inept Republican leadership in Washington want to build a fence costing several billion dollars on our southern border. They say this fence is needed to protect our country against terrorists (even though there is no evidence that a single terrorist has ever entered the United States by illegally crossing our southern border).

This is such a ludicrous idea, that I thought it was time we compared our southern and northern borders and the security of each one. Here are the facts:

The northern border is 4,000 miles long (not counting the border at Alaska).

The southern border is 1,970 miles long.

There are 10 states on our northern border.

There are 4 states on our southern border.

Our southern border is mostly a dangerous desert with soaring temperatures.

Our northern border has much more cover and a temperate climate.

Crossing our southern border at most places requires a long and dangerous walk with few if any roads not covered by border agents.

Crossing our northern border is an easy walk and has hundreds of unwatched roads that merge into our highway system after only a mile or two.

Our northern border is protected by only 1,000 border agents, or one agent for every four miles (one for every 12 miles if you consider they are divided into three working shifts).

Our southern border is protected by 12,000 border agents, or six agents for every mile (two agents for every mile considering the three shifts).

Smuggling of drugs and other items occurs on both border areas.

Considering the above facts, which border would you choose to cross if you were a terrorist? Our northern border would obviously be easier, safer and have much less chance of your being caught. Actually, most terrorists enter our country by airplane or ship with false papers. But if a terrorist somehow couldn't get the necessary paperwork, it would be much better to try crossing our northern border rather than our southern border.

Terrorists are not stupid. That's why there are instances of them trying to enter over the northern border, while there are no verified cases of a terrorist crossing our southern border. The sad fact is that the border fence has nothing to do with terrorism -- only racism.

Most of the people in Canada are white and speak English. Most of the people in Mexico are brown and speak Spanish. This is why there are plans for a southern fence, and no plans for a northern fence. The Republicans are trying to appeal to the innate racist tendencies of many Americans (and doing a pretty good job of it).

There are economic immigrants crossing both borders, but Americans only seem to worry about the poor Hispanic immigrants (who are just trying to feed their families). You'd think a nation built on immigration would be more understanding.

We should be ashamed.