Posted on 05/18/2006 3:54:28 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
YUMA, Ariz. - President Bush said Thursday it makes sense to put up fencing along parts of the U.S.-Mexico border but not to block off the entire 2,000-mile length to keep out illegal immigrants.
During a visit to one of the busiest crossing sectors, Bush did not declare his support for either of two competing proposals in Congress — one approved by the House that would build 700 miles of fencing and one in the Senate that would build half that. Instead, he said the Border Patrol should guide the decisions.
"Right here we're at a place where we're using fencing," Bush told Fox News in an interview with a Border Patrol truck and fencing in the background.
"And it makes sense to use fencing here. It doesn't make sense to use fencing in other parts of the border. And the best people to help us design the program are those who are in charge of enforcing the border."
Earlier, Bush spokesman Tony Snow told reporters that the White House supported the Senate measure, which would build 370 miles of fence in areas "most often used by smugglers and illegal aliens" as determined by federal officials.
"We don't think you fence off the entire border," Snow said aboard Air Force One en route to the inspection visit. But, he added, "there are places when fences are appropriate."
Bush's visit to the border was designed to build support for the immigration plan he outlined Monday night in a nationally televised address. It came as he sent Congress a $1.9 billion request to pay for, among other things, temporary deployment of up to 6,000 National Guard troops to help increase security at the border.
Speaking to a packed room at the Yuma Sector Border Patrol headquarters, Bush said the troops would "complement the work of the Border Patrol to get immediate results. It's time to get immediate results."
"The Border Patrol, of course, will be in the lead," Bush said.
He said improved border security must be combined with a guest worker program that would allow foreigners to walk across legally to get jobs, rather than risk their lives to sneak across. He said the current system "degrades the human soul."
"This is a rational way to deal with people who are God-fearing decent people and respect their dignity," Bush said.
Bush had signaled opposition to widespread fencing in the past, and the White House's support for the plan approved Wednesday by the Senate showed how eager he is to win over Republican conservatives who want to take a tough approach toward keeping illegal immigrants out.
When Bush was asked whether he supports the House or Senate fencing proposal, he was not as direct as his spokesman. "Whatever works," Bush told Fox. "And that's why I'm down here talking to these commanders on the ground to find out exactly what they need to get the job done."
Bush has spoken repeatedly about building fences along the border in urban areas, but he told CNN Espanol in March that "it's impractical to fence off the border."
Bush rejected the idea that racism was a factor in calls for a tough law-and-order approach on the border.
"I think it would be too harsh a judgment to say that somebody who doesn't support a comprehensive immigration plan is a racist," the president told CNN from the border. "I don't believe that. I do believe citizens have got legitimate concerns, realizing that parts of this border have been open for anybody who wants to come across. And we've got to stop that. We must enforce the border."
Bush's border tour took him to the tiny, hard-scrabble town of San Luis, filled with modest homes and many signs in Spanish as well as in English.
The area economy is heavily reliant on agriculture, and farmers are eager to employ immigrants at low prices to harvest fresh crops that are increasingly in demand across the country. The remote outpost is also one of the hottest places in the country, and a growing number of Mexicans die each year trying to make it into the United States.
The president stopped on a portion of a 6.9-mile stretch of fencing that reaches into neighboring California. The 150-foot-wide border enforcement zone features several layers of protection against illegal crossings and other criminal activity such as drug and weapons smuggling: first a tall fence of corrugated metal, then a no man's land of dirt followed by another fence of chain links topped with razor wire and a wide culvert — all lit by high-powered lights spaced about 50 yards apart.
Bush climbed up to the berm overlooking the zone and peered toward the Mexican side, where a neighborhood of houses, trees and other buildings went right up to the fence. Guided by Border Patrol officials and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, the president also walked along a line of Border Patrol vehicles — a buggy, some Hummers and pickup trucks — and display booths set up in a wide adjacent area of dirt that is sometimes cultivated as a lettuce field.
Later, he climbed into a dune buggy and grinned while the driver spun it around in two circles in the sand.
Richard Hays, a local Border Patrol spokesman, said that the combination of the fencing, plus added manpower and video surveillance had changed the area from one that often saw mass incursions to one where they rarely happen.
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On the Net:
http://www.whitehouse.gov
U.S. President George W. Bush (2nd L), and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (3rd L), receive a tour from Chief of Yuma Sector Ron Colburn (L) and Chief of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Border Patrol David Aguilar (R) as they tour the International Border with Mexico (fence) from the Yuma Sector Border on the United States side in San Luis, Arizona, May 18, 2006. REUTERS/Larry Downing
U.S. President George W. Bush takes a tour in a Sandrail with U.S. Border Patrol Agent Rocky Kittle on the International Border with Mexico from the Yuma Sector Border on the United States side in San Luis, Arizona, May 18, 2006. REUTERS/Larry Downing
Agree on the fence, it's the amnesty that doesn't.
Didn't he also say not to fence it all so they can still get through?
This will make the Immibots red-faced with anger.
"He AGREED to National Guard troops like we asked? Now he's AGREEING a fence makes sense?!"
"RINO! TRAITOR!!!!!! JORGE!!!! How DARE he agree with our demands!!!!"
It's called a death bed conversion. It's going to take time, said the POTUS (re strengthening the border), time that he's wasted. But better late than never. And better halfway measures than no way.
Compassionate conservative = ineffective conservative. It is the emotions, not logic, that rule. He feels the illegal aliens' pain. Scr#w national defense. Scr#w the taxpayer. Scr#w the healthcare and educational systems.
"RINO! TRAITOR!!!!!! JORGE!!!! How DARE he agree with our demands!!!!"
If he takes amnesty off of the table some of us might take a sip of your koolaid.
A bit late don't you think? But better than hertofore, which was largely trying to appear to control the border. And had we not demanded?
Don't know about all your rant, but I do not think he wants walls or fences throughout the whole border.
But everyone says he supports the Senate version? Interesting that he also believe the BP should have a lead roll in these decision...I'm sure there's something ominous there.
I've lived very close to the border for 20 years. I've seen all kinds of Border Patrol operations, vehicles and facilities. I've NEVER seen anything like the "Sandrail" that President Bush looks so silly riding in. I'm trying to figure out what's going on here. My first impression is that it was just a photo-op in some piece of equipment that the Border Patrol management thinks is impressive. Then, looking at the photo a bit longer, I came to realize that it may be someone in the Border Patrol's way of intentionally making the President look silly. Kinda of like Dukakis in a tank. Really. Especially given President Bush's poor border security and immigration policies of the first 5 years of his presidency.
Bush knows full well that his 11 year transition to citizenship proposal will be shortened up to 3 or 4 years in country by some future president. Why doesn't he just come right out and say we are obliterating the US-Mexican border ?
Probably because he doesn't see it that way.
Reading this thread reminds me of a bunch of women who went out to lunch, and they spend the rest of the day figuring out who pays how much.
"He said improved border security must be combined with a guest worker program that would allow foreigners to walk across legally to get jobs, rather than risk their lives to sneak across. He said the current system "degrades the human soul."
"This is a rational way to deal with people who are God-fearing decent people and respect their dignity," Bush said"
The appeal to religion now in the mix. If you are against Bush's bill, you're not only a bigot, you may also be an atheist!!
What is an Immibot?
One who is ONLY obsessed with Immigration issues?
Dune buggyin' at the border! Yeeehaaah!
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