[LarkNeelie]

Would a "Berlin Wall" type of x-treme barrier that extended across the entire border pay for itself in the savings to our economy?

[R. Scott]

It’s doubtful. The cost of building, maintaining and manning would be extreme, and just as drug smugglers find different ways to circumvent security so will the coyotes. To be effective the wall would have to extend from the Pacific to the Gulf. The illegals would then be coming in through tunnels and by boat or through Canada.
It would be better to beef up patrols and actually just enforce current laws, particularly on employers.

[datura]

Yes, it would. I lived in Berlin back when the Wall was up and running ('82 - '85). Much of the security duties could be automated vs. the way the East Germans did things. It's actually easier to keep people out of an enclosure that to keep people inside one.

I'd make the minefield deeper than the E. Germans did, and get rid of the dogs which lived their entire lives attached to a wire. The guard towers were too close to each other as well - in order to keep the guards from escaping.

[Wormwood]

I don't know...but where can I send my check?

[FBD]

A border wall/fence like Israel’s is costing between 2 to 4 million per mile to build, depending on the area, and number of motion sensors, monitors and control stations.

Based on that complex fence design, our 2000 mile border with Mexico would cost $8 billion dollars to build. this section (below) is a diagram of some of the most complicated fencing area, running $4 million per mile. The entire 600 kilometer fence project is projected to cost 2.5 billion. Source:
http://www.construction.com/NewsCenter/Headlines/ENR/20040329b.asp

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It is a very complex fence/wall system, but a far less complicated one could be built for a lot less, that would deter a majority of illegal border crossings.

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Click here to see an animated display of precast concrete fence construction
www.concretefence.com/pages/homelandsecurity

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See that "border fence" in the pictures below? Our border with Mexico in AZ. Three years after 9/11. Does that look secure?
Border hoppers, ready to come across:

[ImpBill]

Why does it have to be initially economically feasible.

As Pink Floyd didn't say ...

BUILD THE WALL!!!

And put a mile wide anti-personel mine field behind it!