I said earlier this year that the first political party to get it right on border security would win the election. Of course, there were other factors that came into play over the course of the election. But the fact remains that 2/3 of Americans are worried about border security. Although the Republican Congress managed to pass a watered down "security first" bill that would have built a 700 mile fence, I suspect that most voters – rightly – saw that for a band-aid. But it was at least a start.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) — The incoming U.S. Congress will review the law mandating 700 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, and may seek to scrap the plan altogether.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters this week that he expected to "re-visit" the issue when he becomes chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee in the 110th Congress, which has a Democratic Party majority.
He said that the high technology Secure Border Initiative, or SBI Net — essentially a set of monitors, cameras and other integrated surveillance systems to monitor the border — was a viable alternative.
"We might do away with it, or look at (integrating it into) SBI Net," he said, "A virtual fence rather than a real one."
The Secure Fence Act, one of the laws passed by the GOP-controlled Congress in a pre-election flurry of border security legislation, mandates 700 miles of fencing in five sections, and defines where on the 1,951-mile southern border they should go.
Here's the thing about a so-called high tech barrier: so what? With nothing to stop the people crossing, what will the high-tech barrier do? Give the folks watching the monitors something to watch? If there isn't a force behind it to swoop in and nab the people crossing, what good is it? Border security as video game?
But a really boring video game where the waves of people keep crossing and the cameras record it all. So what? I think those 2/3 of Americans who want something done are about to get word from the new Congress on what it plans to do about the problem. Nada.
(By the way. Folks that sat out the elections, how are you feeling about the choice you made? Just asking.)
