The United States should build and maintain a border fence

Definition. Double fencing has two steel walls 15 feet high and 100 yards apart. Sensors placed between the walls, including cameras, detect intruders. In the most secure design a barbed wire obstacle is included between the walls. An access road allows the Border Patrol to rush to an intrusion site before the intruders can traverse the second fence. Ground sensors detect tunneling. Guard stations are 10 miles apart, allowing any point to be reached in about 5 minutes. The fence in the picture below is on the border between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Mexico has a fence on its border with Guatemala. [1.http://tinyurl.com...] As we shall see, fences are remarkably inexpensive relative to alternatives. 1. Border Security is Needed: 1.1. To control immigration-related benefit costs. There is potential for reforming U.S. immigration policy. A major obstacle to achieving agreement on a better immigration policy is our uncontrolled borders. The Obama Administration has the policy of low border security and large numbers of extraditions. It takes about two or three weeks for an deported immigrant to cross back into the US. Many government benefits are provided to every resident of the United States, whether legal or illegal. For example, anyone can go to a hospital emergency room and receive free medical care. Children may attend public schools and receive educational benefits without regard to citizenship. Even when times are tough in the United States, job opportunities are better than in poor countries. Immigration costs taxpayers an estimated $113 B. [2. http://tinyurl.com...] $52 billion is for education of the children of illegal immigrants. The US should adopt an immigration policy allowing guest workers from Mexico. And other countries That would greatly reduce the education and medical costs by allowing families to remain in Mexico while workers travel freely back-and-forth. That policy would still require strict border enforcement. The US can use many immigrants, but they should be diverse and fit the needs of the economy. 1.2. For health and safety. The U.S. controls what can be imported into the United States so as to exclude unsafe food products, lead-based paints and ceramics. It regulates trucks and aircraft for safety. It forbids travel from places suffering outbreaks of communicable diseases. 1.3. To protect against crime. Persons with criminal histories should be excluded. Human trafficking is prohibited. "Human trafficking is the third-largest global criminal enterprise, exceeded only by drug and arms trafficking, … By some estimates, the industry is growing, and the [worldwide] illegitimate gain from the industry is as high as $32 billion per year." [3. http://tinyurl.com...] California alone spends $1B housing illegals in its prison system, with about three-quarters from Mexico and central America. [4. http://tinyurl.com...] Nationwide, total costs are put as high as $7.8 billion. [5. http://tinyurl.com...] Background checks would reduce both the initial entry and re-entry of criminals. If a person's only crime is illegal entry, the cost would be nearly eliminated. 1.4. To prohibit contraband. Recreational drugs are part of this, but there are also prohibitions on prescription drugs. Endangered species and products derived from endangered species are prohibited. Fake prescription drugs, fake aircraft parts, fake branded luxury goods, and illegal copies of CDs and movies are excluded. If marijuana is legalized, drug cartels will more heavily promote cocaine, heroin, and other drugs. The cartels have a steady business in kidnapping for ransom, which we can expect to increase. 1.5. To reduce illegal arms exports. Fences work both ways, so a border fence will help control export of weapons to drug lords and other criminals. Huge amounts of arms are attempted to be smuggled across the Mexican border. [6. http://tinyurl.com...] 1.6. To collect taxes. Even if narcotics and other drugs were legalized, the US would still want to collect taxes on them. Judging from the "sin" taxes on alcohol and tobacco, the taxes would be steep, and well worth avoiding. 1.7 To prevent immigrant deaths per year in attempted illegal border crossings. Over 1800 deaths have been recorded. [7. http://tinyurl.com...] Fences are so effective that few people attempt to breach them. 1.8 To prevent terrorism. President Obama, Senator Rand Paul, and the general public agree that the U.S. should not fight overseas wars against terrorism, and that is current policy. That allows terrorists to have safe havens where they can plot attacks against the US with weapons of mass destruction. North Korea has nuclear weapons and Iran will soon have them, so there is an increasing danger. Border security must now be aimed at providing 100% security.2. Border fencing is cost-effective. 2.1 The Israelis builds high security double fence for $2.83 million per mile. [8. http://tinyurl.com...] The US government does not do things so cheaply. In an expensive area near San Diego, a double fence was $16 million per mile. At that rate, 700 miles of the fence would cost $16 B. Ineffective single fencing was built for $7 billion and that should be replaced with the secure double fencing. However, the costs of building the road and overcoming legal obstacles has already been borne. Governor Perry, a firm opponent of the fence about 20 years and would cost $6.7 billion to staff and maintain. He's an opponent so he's probably exaggerating the costs. Amortizing costs, that's a total of $1.1 billion per year. The 2013 budget for the Department of Homeland Security was $60.8 billion, so $1.1 billion would be is a small part of the budget. Costs would be repaid if it it reduced illegal immigration costs by even a half percent. 2.2 The Israeli fence is close to 100% effective. "According to the most recent quarterly figures published by the Population, Immigration and Borders Authority, 36 people have been caught trying to enter the southern border since January. ... It’s an incredible drop after 10,440 were caught in 2012, 17,298 in 2011 and 14,715 in 2010. In the years before that, the numbers were lower but still in the thousands." [9. http://tinyurl.com...] In San Diego a lower-security type of double fence cut illegal apprehensions by 79%, even though the protected segment was only 11.8 miles long and illegals could go around the short piece. The fenced area itself is 95% effective. [10. http://www.npr.org...] Fencing less effective than the proposed double fence reduced illegal crossings by 94% in the Yuma district. A 1.5 mile strip of even-more secure triple fencing is described as "impenetrable." [11. http://www.csmonitor.com...] The present border fence is ineffective. Parts of it can be simply climbed. In much of the fence there are regular gaps or “gates” through which illegal activity is funneled. [12. http://tinyurl.com...] The gaps are partly designed for access to US properties where the local road is on the wrong side of the fence. Other gaps are unexplained. It may take legislation to allow timely acquisition of property by the government, or it may take building a new road. The fence is routed north of areas protected by treaty with Mexico. The problems are mostly solved in the nearly 700 miles of single fence that has been constructed, but the gaps must be closed as part of putting a double fence in place. The need for border security is acute, and will do nothing but increase in coming years. A proper designed and constructed border fence will provide close to 100% border security. A yearly cost of $1.1 billion is small part of the $60 billion Homeland Security budget. It's a relative bargain.