U.S. Mexico Border Fence now 500 Miles Long

Yuliana Gomez
Latina.com
December 19, 2008

Officials at the Department of Homeland security are reporting that Customs and Border Protection has added about 93 miles of fencing to the controversial anti-immigrant fence along the U.S.-Mexico border in 2008, bringing the total length at the end of the year to about 520. “The goal is to complete roughly 670 miles of fencing,” the Department states.

The fence, which has its share of opponents and supporters, has been in construction for several years and was originally scheduled to be fully up by the end of this year. The September 11 attacks reignited the debate to put up a physical barrier between our southern neighbor and the continental U.S. to deter illegal immigration; the fence stretches along the most used illegal traffic areas from the Pacific Ocean to the Texas-New Mexico border.

According to the NY Daily News, since 2006 Congress has set aside $2.7 billion for the fence, but there is no final number for how much it is eventually going to cost to build and maintain. An additional $400 million was recently approved to complete the project.

And the question still remains: how effective is this fence even going to be at curtailing illegal immigration? Supporters cite the already reduced numbers in apprehensions but many detractors still believe, “If you build it, they will climb.” Tell us: What do you think about the border fence?

This article was posted: Friday, December 19, 2008 at 8:20 pm

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