The SD fence works as close to perfection as any govt. project EVER has. Anyone who denies this is either ignorant, or an outright liar!
BT, it appears that you qualify for the latter.
The U.S. Border Patrol and Congressional Research Service use the number of illegal alien apprehensions as their primary mechanism for measuring the flow of illegal aliens across the border and for establishing an effectiveness rating. 1
Let's examine the data.
All of the double pedestrian fencing and 75% of triple fencing in the San Diego sector was complete in 2005.2 So let's look directly at the Border Patrol apprehension data from 2005 to 20123, when the current surge of illegals began due to Obama's announcement of no deportation for minors and others.
| Year | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Bend | 10,536 | 7,520 | 5,536 | 5,391 | 6,360 | 5,288 | 4,036 | 3,964 |
| Del Rio | 68,506 | 42,636 | 22,920 | 20,761 | 17,082 | 14,694 | 16,144 | 21,720 |
| El Centro | 55,722 | 61,465 | 55,883 | 40,961 | 33,521 | 32,562 | 30,191 | 23,916 |
| El Paso | 122,679 | 122,256 | 75,464 | 30,312 | 14,999 | 12,251 | 10,345 | 9,678 |
| Laredo | 75,346 | 74,840 | 56,714 | 43,658 | 40,569 | 35,287 | 36,053 | 44,872 |
| Rio Grande Valley | 134,136 | 110,528 | 73,430 | 75,473 | 60,989 | 59,766 | 59,243 | 97,762 |
| San Diego | 126,904 | 142,104 | 152,460 | 162,390 | 118,721 | 68,565 | 42,447 | 28,461 |
| Tucson | 439,079 | 392,074 | 378,239 | 317,696 | 241,673 | 212,202 | 123,285 | 120,000 |
| Yuma | 138,438 | 118,549 | 37,992 | 8,363 | 6,951 | 7,116 | 5,833 | 6,500 |
As you can see, San Diego's apprehensions went up not down from 2005 to 2009. Nearly every other sector's apprehensions - the ones without double fencing, or any fencing at all - went down.
From 2009 to 2011, San Diego's apprehensions went down significantly. (BTW, the 90-95% effectiveness rate that many cite for the San Diego sector comes from USBP fiscal year 2011.) So did nearly every other sector's apprehensions. Remember, those sectors don't have double fencing. Some have no fencing. So the double and triple fence in San Diego had been there for four years. Did the fence suddenly become a substantial deterrent?
What happened in 2009 that caused such a drop in apprehensions, not just in San Diego, but all across the southern border? Well, from 2005 to 2009, we increased the number of Border Patrol agents from 11, 264 to 20,119, of whom 17,399 are deployed to the southern border and we increased technological detection and enforcement capabilities, such as cameras, radar, sensors, and towers.4 (i.e. smart fencing) In addition to significantly increased staff and technology, the economic recession began in 2008, which, according to the U.S. Border Patrol and Congressional Research Service, directly contributed to a decreased flow of illegals seeking work and opportunity in the U.S.
Then, in 2012 and continuing today, apprehensions jumped all across the southern border when Obama announced he wouldn't bother with deporting minors.
All that said, fencing makes good sense in a significant portion of the San Diego sector. It does not, however, make much sense in many other border sectors. Using the San Diego sector as a model for all of the 2000 mile border is illogical at best and disastrous at worst.