Guess which one the Mexican officials are complaining about the loudest??
The 'virtual' border fence (read: over-priced gate) is up and running, but most folks around the AZ-Mex border have their doubts as to the effectiveness of their tax dollar investment.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced approval of the fence west of Tucson Friday. And while it is good to hear the fence apparently is working, it is naive to think this network of cameras and radar is the answer to our illegal immigration problems. But even assuming the fence is working as designed, this is not a practical way to secure the entire 1,969-mile border between the United States and Mexico. At a cost of more than $714,000 per mile, it would cost $1.4 billion to extend the virtual fence the length of the border.The problems with type of 'barrier' is obvious to the Arizona legislature which passed an 'employer sanctions law' that "punishes employers who knowingly hire individuals who don't have valid legal documents to work in the United States. Penalties include suspension or loss of a business license.Its intent is to eliminate or curtail the top draw for immigrants to this country - jobs."
The Bush White House jumped on this (effective) bandwagon with its own announcement of significantly increased fines for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
The increased employer fines will take effect March 27. The minimum penalty would increase by $100 to $375. The maximum fine for a first-time offender would jump $1,000 to $3,200. And the maximum fine for repeated violations would rise from $5,000 to $16,000. Fines are assessed on a per-person basis, so an employer with 10 illegal immigrants on staff would pay 10 fines.The obvious result of this executive order is to reduce the enticement of easy jobs for illegal immigrants, plus encourage self deportation of those already here illegally back to their homeland.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the administration was acting to fill the vacuum left by Congress and that fixes were needed to deal with illegal immigration and to improve the system through which people enter the U.S. legally. (it's about flippin' time!) He described the new hike in penalties as "part of our effort to continue to make it less appealing for people to break the law" and "a way to keep that pressure up."
So, we have a virtual border fence that is no more than an expensive, taxpayer financed gate, and we have real deterrents against job seeking illegal immigrants who have less incentive to border jump and stay here illegally. Guess which one the Mexican officials are complaining about the loudest?? Savor the irony.
TY KC Crime Scene.
