Are we back to declaring war on Mexico again in order to build the Fence on the MEXICAN SIDE, as you advocated earlier on this thread?
"WAR WITH MEXICO! VOTE CAIN!"
Yes, that is one great way to defeat Obama. < /sarc>
Again, let's get back to reality instead of over-dosing on Red Meat sloganeering:
FIRST:
Perry's strategy is EXACTLY the strategy used, right now, by Israel along it's southern border. See Post 119.
SECOND:
Even though there is nothing of value to fence off in the middle of the Negev Desert, not even the Israelis build a Fence in the middle of the Negev Desert for practical reasons.
Yet, what will be fenced off with a Texas Fence will be THE ENTIRE RIO GRANDE WATERFRONT which is of incalculable value.
THIRD:
No, muawiyah, the Fence will NOT be built on the MEXICAN SIDE. Invading Mexico, conquering foreign soil and building a Fence on the MEXICAN SIDE in the 21st Century is nothing more than a Red Meat Fantasy on Steroids.
October 28, 2006 ... Texas ranchers, business owners are troubled by border fence plan
MISSION, Texas - Jeff Reed offers outdoor dining on the Rio Grande at his restaurant, Pepe's on the River. But with the U.S. government planning to build 700 miles of fence along the Mexican border, he has to wonder: Will his restaurant soon be "Pepe's on the Fence"?
Downriver in Brownsville, where the jalapeno and lima bean fields run down to the water's edge, farmer Fermin Leal is wondering whether the government intends to cut through his crops, run irrigation pipes under the fence, or buy him out.
"Most of our land goes up to what's supposed to be the border, and yes, we need access to river water," Leal said.
President Bush signed a law Thursday to erect more fences along the border to secure it against illegal immigrants, drug smugglers and terrorists. Republicans in Congress see it as their most significant accomplishment on immigration. The president called it "an important step in our nation's efforts to secure our borders."
But up and down Texas' watery boundary with Mexico, farmers, ranchers and business owners are worried a fence will endanger their livelihoods and encroach on their property.
Texas landowners - sick of illegal immigrants cutting their fences, stealing and trespassing, and tired of worrying about smugglers of humans and drugs endangering their families - have been demanding for years that Congress tighten the border.
But not, some say, with a double-layer, $6 billion fence cutting through their land and keeping them and their livestock from the river.
"It's not going to work in Texas," said Michael Vickers, who owns a cattle ranch on the border. "Who wants to close off the river to Mexico? The river is the lifeblood for a lot of cities."
Vickers said he worries that either his land will be cut off from the rest of the state and the country or he will lose access to 50 acres of water rights he has and can sell to area municipalities for up to $2,000 an acre.
"I'd be in a DMZ-type zone, in between two countries," Vickers said.
The exact route the fences will take is not yet clear. And it is not yet known what the fences will look like - how tall they will be, whether they will be solid walls, or bars.
Much of the land along the Texas side of the river is privately owned, some dating back to Spanish land grants. The government's $1.2 billion "down payment" on the fences is only a fraction of the estimated cost, which will also include the expense of compensating property owners for any land taken through eminent domain.