Posted on 10/04/2006 8:19:08 PM PDT by axes_of_weezles
Cornyn: 700 miles of border fence won't happen Senator says plan isn't practical, doesn't have the necessary funds.
By Eunice Moscoso WASHINGTON BUREAU Wednesday, October 04, 2006
WASHINGTON — Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and key liaison to the White House on immigration, said Tuesday that 700 miles of fencing approved by Congress for the United States' southern border will probably not be built because of a lack of money and other practical considerations. "It's one thing to authorize. It's another thing to actually appropriate the money and do it," he said.
Cornyn predicted that some fencing would be built as part of a comprehensive strategy that includes more Border Patrol agents, more technology, more detention facilities and various physical barriers.
"There's different kinds of fencing. . . . There's the old fence post and barbed wire, and then there's the virtual fence, which is a combination of physical barriers, people and technology, and I think, in the end, that will probably be how this is addressed," he said.
Cornyn added that 700 miles of fencing would not solve the problem of illegal immigration because it would still leave about 1,300 miles of unfenced border.
"I'm not sure that's the most practical use of that money," he said.
In many border areas, the federal government would have to figure out how to compensate land owners for the property used for the fence, which raises a lot of practical questions, he said.
In addition, residents in the Rio Grande Valley, El Paso and South Texas are concerned that a fence could harm legal trade and commerce back and forth across the border, which is key to jobs and the economy in those areas, he said.
Cornyn defended the Senate vote for the fencing, saying it was a symbolic gesture to show that Congress is serious about protecting the border.
The Senate cleared the bill late Friday, and President Bush has said he would sign it. But Congress approved only $1.2 billion for fencing, barriers and other infrastructure in a separate homeland security measure. Estimates for the 700 miles range from $2 billion to $7 billion.
Also Tuesday, the 7-year-old son of an illegal immigrant and community leader made a plea to President Bush to halt deportation hearings for his mother, Elvira Arellano.
Arellano made national headlines in August when she refused to surrender for deportation and took refuge in a Methodist church in Chicago. On Friday, a federal judge refused her latest attempt to remain in the country.
The boy, Saul Arellano, was a guest at a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute conference.
At a press conference, the boy held up a letter he said he wrote to Bush asking for a meeting.
"I want you to know that there are more than 3 million children like me. We are U.S. citizens, but the government is taking away our mothers and fathers," the letter said.
White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said that the White House received the letter and will review it but that all individual immigration matters are referred to the Department of Homeland Security.
emoscoso@coxnews.com
Additional material from staff writer Tara Copp.
ping
Weasily, slimy, political whores and bastards. Mean what you say, do what you say...or do not say it. The very idea of saying that they passed a symbolic gestuure to show that they are serious is an afront and a slap in the face to any American the represent.
Sorry, but people like this, from either side of the aisle, make me want to vomit.
Now...I might add, that if this is not an accurate quote, if this is a MSM hack job on his words, I will recant what I just said about Cornyn.
"Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
"IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America"
It's been a few days now. I cant find any refutation of the Cornyn quotes, but quite a few articles in Texas and Mexico picking up the quotes.
I guess the article stands as the truth about Cornyn.
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