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WORD COUNT
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MAY 14, 2008
CAN WE FENCE OFF
AMERICA? – by Jim Hightower
If good fences make
good neighbors, what about bad fences?
You could ask local
officials and residents along the U.S.-Mexican border about that. They
hate the monstrous wall that Bush and the Congress have decreed be
erected to separate our countries. Not only is the wall a repugnant
blemish on their landscape, severing the everyday crossborder flow of
life, but the damned thing doesn't work. The claim of the fence-builders
is that it will keep workers from the south from crossing into the U.S.
illegally. Local folks know, however, that that's a bad joke.
First of all,
Washington's wall covers only 700 of our 2,000-mile border, and long
experience shows many migrants will simply flow through the gaps. Others
are already making gaps of their own. On one completed stretch of the
fence near Columbus, New Mexico, human ingenuity is winning out over
bullheaded barricade builders. Border agents report that they started
seeing cuts in the towering wall "almost immediately" after it was
constructed. From simple hacksaws to plasma torches that can slice
quickly through steel, immigrants have found their way through. Others
have used ladders, trucks and other devices to scale the wall, while a
least one group has bungee jumped into the country!
Also, the fence
itself is creating convenient gaps, for the heavy structure is settling
into the unstable ground. As it settles, the parts split - so much so
that agents say determined migrants can wedge themselves through.
Meanwhile, this multibillion-dollar monument to political stupidity does
nothing to deter the 40-percent of immigrants who make a legal visit to
the U.S. for business, vacation, or other purposes - then don't go home.
Walling off Mexico
might make some politicians feel good, but it's not going to stop human
ingenuity and determination.
--
For more information on Jim Hightower’s
work – and to subscribe to his award-winning monthly newsletter, The
Hightower Lowdown, visit
www.jimhightower.com -- A photo of Jim Hightower is available
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