Mexico pleaded with President Bush on Monday to veto a Senate proposal to build a fence to keep illegal immigrants out, saying it could backfire by making the border less secure.Near as I can tell the Mexicans haven't done squat on their side of the border (well, maybe they've squatted on their side of the border, but they haven't done anything else) to stop illegal immigration, and in fact have encouraged it in many ways. They want their people in the U.S. earning U.S. dollars and sending them back. This fence will complicate that effort.
The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly backed a bill on Friday to put up about 700 miles of fence, a project Republicans hope will impress voters calling for tougher immigration control ahead of November 7 congressional elections.
"The Mexican government strongly opposes the building of walls in the border area between Mexico and the United States," President Vicente Fox's spokesman Ruben Aguilar told reporters.
"This decision hurts bilateral relations, goes against the spirit of cooperation needed to guarantee security on the common border, creates a climate of tension in border communities," he said.
Aguilar said Mexico would send a diplomatic note to Washington on Monday urging Bush to veto the bill, which requires the president's signature to become law.
As far as security goes, one argument from the Dems is that a 700 mile fence on a 2,000 mile border is meaningless. That's completely wrong and just an effort to deny the GOP a victory on this subject. Whatever part of the border is fenced will see a dramatic reduction in the amount of illegal crossings and associated crime, which means fewer Border Control officers will be needed. Those extra officers can be shifted to areas where there is no fence to beef up the patrols in those areas.
No doubt about it, the fence will help, and there's no way Bush would veto this bill. It would be a guarantee that millions of conservatives would stay home in November.
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