Bush okays 700-mile border fence

[Dahir]

A little semi-off-topic, but, the term "illegal" is a bit inhumane and should be declared slander to all of humanity.

How can a human being be "illegal?" ffended:

I think a much-more politically-correct term that should be used more often is "Undocumented" -- it sounds better and it shows compassion and civility as opposed to the hate-filled and harsh term "illegal!"

Just an opinion...

 

[GARY]

A little semi-off-topic, but, the term "illegal" is a bit inhumane and should be declared slander to all of humanity.

How can a human being be "illegal?" ffended:

I think a much-more politically-correct term that should be used more often is "Undocumented" -- it sounds better and it shows compassion and civility as opposed to the hate-filled and harsh term "illegal!"

Just an opinion...

Just like short people should be called vertically challenged, and fat people should be called horizontially blessed.

 

[Dahir]

Just like short people should be called vertically challenged, and fat people should be called horizontially blessed.

Correct. :mmokay:

A bit stretched, your idea, but its on the right track! :thumbs_up

 

[Woodrow]

so let me get this straight

millions of americans are checked for explosives and other destabilizing things than can cause insecurity and mayhem every year when they fly from one US state to another but a person can walk in from another country without getting checked at all:?

homeland security?????

It is only air travel that undergoes the tough scrutiny. Ground travel is little controled. There are no physical boundries or check points between states. So yes a person can walk into the country unchecked and unnoticed. The only time a person would be found out is when they attempt to get a job or apply for any type of license such as a drivers license, fishing lincense, or try to get a library card, credit card etc.

 

[AHMED_GUREY]

It is only air travel that undergoes the tough scrutiny. Ground travel is little controled. There are no physical boundries or check points between states. So yes a person can walk into the country unchecked and unnoticed. The only time a person would be found out is when they attempt to get a job or apply for any type of license such as a drivers license, fishing lincense, or try to get a library card, credit card etc.

isn't that dangerous

what if someone decided to walk in with a nerve gas bomb from Mexico and then detonates it in New york or something

have they considered this?

why spy on your own citizens and check every passenger on airports but for decades not secure the border ?

 

[Woodrow]

isn't that dangerous

what if someone decided to walk in with a nerve gas bomb from Mexico and then detonates it in New york or something

have they considered this?

why spy on your own citizens and check every passenger on airports but for decades not secure the border ?

There are many reasons it is not an option. The American people do not support wide spread spying on Americans. It is only with much reluctance that it is in place at airports.

Also the size of the US Borders is tremendous and it it impossible to fully secure. Texas alone has nearly a 2,000 mile border with Mexico and a Sea coast Border that is even longer. the total US Borders with the Sea and other nations is far in excess of 20,000 miles

As far as somebody walking in with a bomb, that is a possibility. However, there are no practical steps that can be taken to prevent it. We can only place our trust in our neighbors.

 

[Woodrow]

More accuracy:

The official Boundreys for Texas are:

Texas' Boundary Lines

The boundary of Texas by segments, including only larger river bends and only the great arc of the coastline, is as follows:

Rio Grande 889.0 miles
Coastline 367.0 miles
Sabine River, Lake and Pass 180.0 miles
* Sabine River to Red River 106.5 miles
Red River 480.0 miles
* East Panhandle line 133.6 miles
* North Panhandle line 167.0 miles
* West Panhandle line 310.2 miles
* Along 32nd parallel 209.0 miles
Total 2,842.3 miles



Following the smaller meanderings of the rivers and the tidewater coastline, the following are the boundary measurements:

Rio Grande 1,254 miles
Coastline (tidewater) 624 miles
Sabine River, Lake and Pass 292 miles
Red River 726 miles
* The five unchanged line segments above 926 miles
Total (including segments marked *) 3,822 miles

Source: http://www.texasalmanac.com/environment/

The actual driving and road distances are considerably more. I was using the road milages in my post.

 

[AHMED_GUREY]

thanks for the info Woodrow it makes much more sense now

kinda like Indonesia and it's trillion islands (makes it difficult to secure Indonesian waters from hijackers)

 

[blunderbus]

ALL COUNTRIES have a right to control their borders and who will enter the country. Having said that...The fence is mainly symbolic. It lets the Federal government look like it's doing something. The flow of illegal aliens (if you are in a country illegally that is what you are) will not stop until employers are fined at a level that will make hiring illegal aliens unprofitable. If the work dries up the numbers entering the country will diminish.

In just 40 years the population of the United States has grown by 100 million. That's a 1/3 increase in less than half a century. Most of those coming over the southern border are not well educated. There is little doubt that this drives down wages for the American born working and underclass (supply and demand in labor markets) and exacerbates the widending income gap and shrinking of the middle class. In the current system the winners are the employers who have lower labor costs. The losers are low skilled native born American workers.

 

[Keltoi]

ALL COUNTRIES have a right to control their borders and who will enter the country. Having said that...The fence is mainly symbolic. It lets the Federal government look like it's doing something. The flow of illegal aliens (if you are in a country illegally that is what you are) will not stop until employers are fined at a level that will make hiring illegal aliens unprofitable. If the work dries up the numbers entering the country will diminish.

In just 40 years the population of the United States has grown by 100 million. That's a 1/3 increase in less than half a century. Most of those coming over the southern border are not well educated. There is little doubt that this drives down wages for the American born working and underclass (supply and demand in labor markets) and exacerbates the widending income gap and shrinking of the middle class. In the current system the winners are the employers who have lower labor costs. The losers are low skilled native born American workers.

Couldn't agree with you more