CA: Barbed-wire fence installed on border ( "The effects have been phenomenal," Michael Corley, )

Long Beach Press-Telegram ^ | 11/18/2008 09:23:24 PM PST | Elliot Spagat, The Associated Press

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

SAN DIEGO - The Border Patrol on Tuesday finished installing a razor-sharp, curled wire atop a fence on the Mexican border, saying the tactic has contributed to a sharp drop in attacks on its agents by assailants hurling rocks, bricks and sometimes even exploding bottles of gas.

The barbed wire on a violent, five-mile stretch separating San Diego from Tijuana, Mexico, resembles a prison fence, prompting critics to say it's a heavy-handed move and a menacing eyesore.

"The effects have been phenomenal," Michael Corley, head of the Border Patrol's Imperial Beach station, said at a news conference after a crew installed the last piece of wire.

Without the wire, migrants could jump the fence in only 15 seconds. But it now takes several minutes for them to cut a hole in the fence using handheld, battery-powered saws, Corley said. Mexico's consul general in San Diego, Remedios Gomez Arnau, said efforts by Mexican authorities to prevent attacks on border agents may explain the drop in violence, not the razor wire. She said the Border Patrol rejected her plea to reconsider installing the wiring.

The five-mile stretch is the only place on the U.S.-Mexico border with razor wiring on top of the fence, and there are no plans to use it elsewhere, said Border Patrol spokesman Lloyd Easterling.

[brytlea]

I don’t know about you, but daily now, I feel like Alice down the rabbit hole. It’s like I’ve been sucked into a parallel universe that makes no sense.

[Tunehead54]

"The effects have been phenomenal," Michael Corley, head of the Border Patrol's Imperial Beach station, said at a news conference after a crew installed the last piece of wire.

The five-mile stretch is the only place on the U.S.-Mexico border with razor wiring on top of the fence, and there are no plans to use it elsewhere, said Border Patrol spokesman Lloyd Easterling.

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Wouldn't want to use anything that's actually effective! ;-(

[cowboy_code]

put razor wire on the rest.