The Bush administration asks Congress for $400 million more to build the Berlin Wall
...I mean Jericho. No, wait...the US wall.
This is the most recent attempt by the Bush administration to "salvage" their plan for a 670 mile border fence between the United States and Mexico (as a point of reference, the Berlin Wall stretched a little under 100 miles long). Congress had designated authorization and funding for the fence through both the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 (a bill which was meant to provide the resources to "combat terrorism" and "other measures") and the Secure Fence Act of 2006.
The fence is intended to stretch nearly 700 miles, combining "virtual" fencing with a physical wall. The virtual fence is a complex system of mobile towers, satellite systems, cameras and control vehicles which are linked with "real-time" technology that border agents can constantly monitor. The physical wall is exactly what you think it is, a 15-foot three-layer thick,"unclimbable" wall.
The first section of the fence was supposed to be completed at the end of this year. But according to the latest news, this section won't be completed until 2011. The originally estimated (rather small..?!?!) figure of 4.5 million dollars per mile of wall has now gone up to $7.5 million. If you do the math, the $400 million more requested by the Bush administration won't even be enough to keep the project going, let alone finish it.
It's a shame--really--that such 'tactical infrastructure' may come to a halt and another $400 million wasted on a destructive project rather than spent on something a bit more useful...like food banks or hurricane relief.
Did I mention the environmental consequences of the wall? And that the most likely cause for displacement and refugee resettlement in the near future may be from natural causes like climate change, soil erosion, run-off...?
But I guess that's a subject for another post.
I'm alex, by the way, the new program assistant on civil liberties, human rights, and immigration. This is my first post on "Of Peace and Politics." Apart from keeping you informed on the usual comings and goings of intern life on the Hill, my hope is to use this blog to reinvigorate our current network, as well as reach out to others, on issues like comprehensive immigration reform, habeas corpus, and the ban of torture.
This is the most recent attempt by the Bush administration to "salvage" their plan for a 670 mile border fence between the United States and Mexico (as a point of reference, the Berlin Wall stretched a little under 100 miles long). Congress had designated authorization and funding for the fence through both the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 (a bill which was meant to provide the resources to "combat terrorism" and "other measures") and the Secure Fence Act of 2006.
The fence is intended to stretch nearly 700 miles, combining "virtual" fencing with a physical wall. The virtual fence is a complex system of mobile towers, satellite systems, cameras and control vehicles which are linked with "real-time" technology that border agents can constantly monitor. The physical wall is exactly what you think it is, a 15-foot three-layer thick,"unclimbable" wall.
The first section of the fence was supposed to be completed at the end of this year. But according to the latest news, this section won't be completed until 2011. The originally estimated (rather small..?!?!) figure of 4.5 million dollars per mile of wall has now gone up to $7.5 million. If you do the math, the $400 million more requested by the Bush administration won't even be enough to keep the project going, let alone finish it.
It's a shame--really--that such 'tactical infrastructure' may come to a halt and another $400 million wasted on a destructive project rather than spent on something a bit more useful...like food banks or hurricane relief.
Did I mention the environmental consequences of the wall? And that the most likely cause for displacement and refugee resettlement in the near future may be from natural causes like climate change, soil erosion, run-off...?
But I guess that's a subject for another post.
I'm alex, by the way, the new program assistant on civil liberties, human rights, and immigration. This is my first post on "Of Peace and Politics." Apart from keeping you informed on the usual comings and goings of intern life on the Hill, my hope is to use this blog to reinvigorate our current network, as well as reach out to others, on issues like comprehensive immigration reform, habeas corpus, and the ban of torture.
Labels: border fence, immigration, USA PATRIOT
posted by alexandra at
11:09 AM
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