In the News #2: The US-Mexican Border

The thing that strikes me about this issue is that it is not an issue; there is barely a mention of imimigration or border-fence building as part of the current presidential campaign. This seems odd, especially when terorrism, the economy, and unemployment are large issues. Does either party want to bring this up? Is it aliability for both Democrats and Republicans? John McCain worked against his party to develop comprehensive immigration reform that included things such as a "pathway to citizenship." But bringing this up now in the campaign would likely alieanate plenty of conservative voters who are strongly anti-immigration, as well as alienate independent and minority voters who may side with the McCain/Palin ticket on social values issues. That neither party has made this part of their platform seems to suggest that this is a politically volatile issue, or perhaps a non-issue because it might draw attention to wasteful spending and misplaced attention by both parties.

Whether or not to give money to complete the fence begs several questions. For instance, how effective is the fence so far? How effective can half-a-fence be? If the current work simply displaces the border-crossing areas, then you would think that half-a-fence isn't any better than no fence? So, is it all or nothing? Is this a stop-gap, a band-aid? Is it a colossal waste of money and are we better off cutting funding as soon as possible? Are there better ways to manage immigration and border crossing (in both directions)? What would happen to the U.S. economy if we had no immigrant labor--which harvests everything from oysters to christmas trees?

The article mentiones the GAO (the government accountability office), which is a real no-partisan group in Washington that gives unbiased information and analysis. they donb't weigh in on whether or not the fence should be built, but they do keep track of what is spent and on whether deadlines are being met. Should we continue to fund it? Only if we think it will be effective once completed.