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The Cost of Protecting Our Borders

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The Cost of Protecting Our borders Enzo Biasillo Strayer University Abstract Despite the increase in funding over the last decade, the number of illegal aliens entering our country continues to grow. Every year, we allow 750,000 immigrants to enter the country legally and make them eligible for citizenship within five years yet it is estimated that 10 million people reside in our country without legal documentation. Illegal immigration is not just Arizona’s problem, or any of the other bordering states, it is a national problem that is costing United States citizens billions each year. “Political Correctness” forbid certain politicians from calling illegal immigrants what they are at face value: Criminals. They commit an …show more content…

At a cost ranging in the billions, this multi year project was not without costly troubles. A byproduct of the SBI is the Secure Fence Act of 2006. The SFA increased the border control funding from a low of $4.6 billion to $10.4 billion. The goal was to employ the use of technology like radar, cameras and sensors, as well as infrastructure via fences, roads and lighting to detect and deter illegal entry. The focus was on the southwest border at areas deemed “more vulnerable” than other entry points. The fence was to be 700 miles long and equipped with the latest and greatest technology tax payers could buy. The fence was a failure. Radar and motion detectors set off alarms sending in the troops but often they are false alarms. Birds fly into the fence and set the alarms off and even high winds will set it off.(3) What’s the solution? A political debate of course! How can the government ineffectually spend more? A proposal by Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Duncan Hunter, called for two fences composed of metal and wire that would run from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Coast. Additionally, he proposed that a two layer 15’ fence be constructed along the entire length of the U.S/Mexico border. (3) The cost was estimated to be from 4 billion to eight billion dollars for the 2,000 mile fence. A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll indicated that Americans favored a proposal to build a 2,000-mile security fence by a 51-to-37 percent margin.

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