FYI:
Funding for 700-mile border fence falls short
12:11 AM CST on Tuesday, February 6, 2007
By TODD J. GILLMAN / The Dallas Morning News
tgillman@dallasnews.com
WASHINGTON – President Bush’s budget includes enough money to build only half the U.S.-Mexico border fence Congress demanded last fall, leaving supporters of a 700-mile barrier seething Monday and immigration advocates shrugging that it was just an election-year ploy.
With 75 miles of fencing already in place, the $1 billion in extra money proposed for border infrastructure would be used to build 150 miles of fence by the end of this year and 370 miles by the time Mr. Bush leaves office in early 2009, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said. That’s far less than the 700 miles Congress approved last fall and Mr. Bush signed into law.
They put down 1.2 billion when they passed the law in october. Construction has started. Bush is proposing to fund 1/2 of the 700 miles (actually closer to 850 miles) for FY 08. Even Chertoff was down for a photo-op last month with a welding torch.