"The fence is now unfunded, while a couple of weeks back it had 1.2 billion. "
WRONG.
Your own quote says ... "The funds may also be spent on roads, technology and "tactical infrastructure" to support the Homeland Security Department's preferred option of a "virtual fence.""
Capiche? that's not 'unfunded' that flexibily funding the original intent. $1.2 billion for fencing, both physical and virtual. The reality is that we need *both*. The reality is that the bill mandates *both* ...
See Tom tancredo's statement:
http://tancredo.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1228
"The Secure Fence Act of 2006 is an emergency measure that would help take the necessary steps to address these dire conditions along the border. It provides for over 700 miles of two-layered reinforced fencing along the southwest border with prioritized placement at critical, highly populated areas, and requires an evaluation of infrastructure needs along the northern border.
It mandates that DHS achieve and maintain operational control over the entire border through a “virtual fence” that deploys cameras, ground sensors, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and integrated surveillance technology; and also requires that DHS provide all necessary authority to border personnel to disable fleeing vehicles similar to the authority held by the United States Coast Guard for maritime vessels."
THE FULL STORY IS A GOOD STORY - THEY ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING!
(part 2)
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52573
An earlier bill allocated $1.2 billion to the project, but the new legislation says specifically where it will be started and what will be done, he said.
"The full $1.2 billion is appropriated toward the fence, whether it is physical or virtual. That's basically the beginning, to get it going," he said. "As we go along, the idea is to keep funding it as necessary."
The targeted areas will include the most heavily trafficked areas, including some in Arizona and California. "From there we'll se how things go," he said.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas
Earlier, a leading senator on immigration-reform expressed doubts that plans for a 700-mile fence on the country's nearly 2,000 mile-long border with Mexico ever would be fulfilled.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship Subcommittee, told WND "we have not yet appropriated nearly enough to complete the job."
Cornyn supports a fence together with a technological solution to the problem of border security.
A bill signed by President Bush Oct. 4 allocated $1.2 billion to be spent during the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 for Southwest border fencing and other barriers, drawing immediately reaction from Mexico, which threatened to complain to the United Nations.
A spokesman for Mexican President Vicente Fox suggested the U.S. Congress is unlikely to appropriate enough funding to ever finish the 700-mile fence.
Cornyn's comments come amid efforts by Republican officials to turn back concerns that President Bush will not sign the Secure Fence Act.
Cornyn insisted to WND that the first priority is to secure the border, and then deal with other related issues.
"Any effort to reform our immigration system first requires that we secure our borders and restore respect for our laws," Cornyn said. 'We can do this while we honor property rights and water rights, and while we keep lawful trade going in the border area."
"Securing our border will require both money and time – a multi-year commitment by Congress," he said. "It remains to be seen whether that will occur."
He suggested Congress doesn’t have has the required resolve.
"We have seen over the past 20 years repeated instances of the federal government making promises regarding border enforcement, followed by failure to honor them," he said.
The president's spokesman, meanwhile, has confirmed to WND that the U.S. is deporting some illegal aliens as it works on the various facets of a comprehensive solution to the tens of millions of illegal aliens estimated to be in the United States already.
Spokesman Tony Snow, responding earlier to a question from Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House, said that there are deportations, but there also are complications.
Snow was asked why doesn't the U.S. deport immigrants who have broken the law to enter the United States, and if it doesn't, isn't that disregarding the laws that the nation already has.
"Well, number one, the president does not disregard the law. And, number two, when you have the inability to determine who is here illegally or not, it significantly hampers your efforts," Snow said.
"As part of eliminating 'catch-and-release,' we have, in fact, been deporting people," he said.
President Bush also noted earlier said part of the solution to illegal immigration "must" include a way for those already in the United States but without legal authorization to be given that status.
At a recent event at the White House honoring Hispanic Heritage Month, he promised that the law would be enforced, even as the debate on immigration is conducted "in a way that is respectful to our heritage."
"But at the same time, we must remember that in order to secure our borders, in order to make sure we fulfill our heritage, immigration reform must be comprehensive in nature. We must understand that you can't kick 12 million people out of your country; that we must figure out a way to say to those that if you're lawful and if you've contributed to the United States of America, there is a way for you to eventually earn citizenship," he had said.
The issue of "amnesty" to illegals already in the country remains one of the hottest issues in the debate over illegal immigration. There are many who believe that the border laws need to be enforced first, to dry up the gusher of illegal aliens moving into the United States, and then those who are here can be addressed.
One of those groups is Americans for Legal Immigration, where spokesman William Gheen told WND earlier that without a solid enforcement of border access, there's no point in having other laws.
"That's where it comes down," he said. "For any law to be a deterrent, the punishment must be greater than the rewards. Illegal aliens never will be able to pay for illegally immigrating. They must leave. That's the only punishment we have that's greater than the crime."
Only a small portion and that was changed later to allow for the use of that money to go to other projects. I wonder how fast they will run out of money before the fence ever gets built? He's managed to stall for 5 1/2 years so far.