Fence doing little to deter border crossing
By admin at 2 February, 2009, 4:11 pm
According to a piece in today’s New York Times, the more than 600 miles of fence placed along the Mexico border is doing little to deter imaginative drug smugglers and illegal immigrants from crossing into the U.S.
Today’s Times reports that pickup trucks used by Mexican drug cartels have been retrofitted with ramps, allowing other trucks to drive over the fence and into U.S. territory.
According to the paper, the acts have become even more brazen recently with border agents reporting they saw a 60-pound bale of marijuana drop over the fence in the middle of the day.
“That kind of thing happens every day here,” Agent Michael A. Scioli, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection told the news provider.
Others have gone underground to get across the border with the paper noting several tunnels opening up into the U.S. allowing illegal immigrants to trek under the border.
Last week it was announced that 601 miles of the fence along the U.S./Mexico border had been erected, with another 69 miles still to be completed to finish the job. According to the Arizona Daily Star, the fence’s price tag has been higher than initially expected, costing nearly $4 million per mile.
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