Incredible Disappearing Border Fence, The

Do you know the story of the Incredible Disappearing Border Fence? It's an object lesson in gesture politics and homeland insecurity and a tale of hollow rhetoric, meaningless legislation and bipartisan betrayal. In the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, it's a helpful learning tool as you assess the promises of immigration enforcement converts now running for President.

Bragging Over Nothing

Last fall, Democrats and Republicans in Washington responded to continued public outrage over border chaos by passing the "secure Fence Act." Did you question the timing? You should have. It's no coincidence they finally got off their duffs to respond just before the 2006 midterm elections. Lawmakers vowed grandiosely to keep America safe. The law specifically called for "at least two layers of reinforced fencing, the installation of additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras and sensors" at five specific stretches of border totaling approximately 700 miles.

GOP leaders patted themselves on the back for their toughness. President Bush made a huge to-do in signing the bill into law. Never mind the lack of funding for the fence and the failure to address many other immediate reforms that could have been adopted immediately to strengthen immigration enforcement, close deportation loopholes and provide systemic relief at the border without the need for a single brick or bulldozer.

On the very day the bill was signed, open-borders politicians were already moving to water it down. Texas Republican Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn pushed for "flexibility to choose other options instead of fencing, if needed." Six months after passage of the secure Fence Act-now interpreted by Washington as the Flexible Non-Fence Act or, as I call it. the FINO (Fence in Name Only) Act-700 miles shrunk to "somewhere in the ballpark" of 370 miles. A 14-mile fence-building project in San Diego was stalled for years by environmental legal challenges and budget shortfalls. The first deadline-a May 30, 2007, requirement for installation of an "interlocking surveillance camera system" along the border in California and Arizona-passed unmet. GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter (Calif.) blasted die Bush Administration for suffering from "a case of 'the slows' on border enforcement."

Politicians Sabotage Law

More than a year after the law's passage, the citizen watchdog group Grassfire reports that only five miles of double-layer fencing have been built in the first 12 months of implementation of the act. The Government Accountability Office claims 70 miles were erected-but most of that fencing failed to meet the specifications of the law.

Is Congress up in arms? Will there be accountability? Instead of demanding that the law be enforced, the politicians are sabotaging the law. As part of the omnibus spending package passed last week, House Democrats incorporated Senate Republicans' provisions to remove the two-layer fencing requirements and the specific target list of fencing locations.

GOP Rep. Peter King (N.Y.), who sponsored the secure Fence Act, told the Washington Times: "This is either a blatant oversight or a deliberate attempt to disregard the border security of our country. As it's currently written, the omnibus language guts the secure Fence Act almost entirely. Quite simply, it is unacceptable."

But totally predictable.

Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio) tried to blame the House Democratic majority: "The fact that this was buried in a bloated, 3,500-page omnibus speaks volumes about the Democrats' unserious approach on border security and illegal immigration. Gutting the secure Fence Act will make our borders less secure, but it's consistent with the pattern of behavior we've seen all year from this majority." But it's border state Republicans who've been gunning to undermine the law while the ink was still fresh.

To add insult to injury, Congress failed to adopt a ban on federal aid to sanctuary cities tiiat prevent government employees and law enforcement officers from asking about immigration status, voted to stall implementation of stricter ID standards at border crossings, and miraculously found enough money to provide $10 million in "emergency" funding for attorneys of illegal aliens.

Next time you hear a leading presidential candidate try to woo you with his nine-point immigration enforcement plan or his secure ID plan or his secure Borders platform, point to the Incredible Disappearing Border Fence. That is what happens to election-season homeland security promises. Why would theirs be any different?

Mrs. Malkin is author of Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild (Regnery, a HUMAN EVENTS sister company).

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Dec 24, 2007
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