FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM September 14, 2006
House GOP tries again for fence along U.S.-Mexico border WASHINGTON - House Republicans are renewing their push to construct nearly 700 miles of two-layered, reinforced fences along the U.S.-Mexico border as the first installment in a series of border security initiatives they hope to send to President Bush in the closing weeks of the session. The fence proposal is identical to one in an immigration enforcement bill passed by the House in December. But with that measure sidelined in a stalemate with the Senate, House leaders plan to resurrect the $2.2 billion barrier in a single-shot bill the House is expected to pass today. House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y., said the Secure Fence Act represents the opening salvo in an end-of-session flurry of initiatives designed to stem the flow of illegal immigrants along the Southwest border. House leaders have refused to consider a more comprehensive bill approved by the Senate that would create a foreign guest-worker program and put millions of illegal immigrants on a path toward permanent legal status and U.S. citizenship. Leading supporters of the Senate plan acknowledge that it appears dead for the year. But President Bush isn't giving up on his push for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws and wants the House and Senate to "work together to come up with comprehensive reform," White House press secretary Tony Snow said Wednesday. Asked whether the White House supports the proposed fence, Snow responded, "What the administration wants is comprehensive reform." The largest sections of the fence would include a 361-mile stretch from Calexico, Calif., to Douglas, Ariz., and 176 miles from Laredo to Brownsville. Two other sections would be built in Texas -- 51 miles from Del Rio to Eagle Pass, and 88 miles from El Paso to Columbus, N.M. A 22-mile section would be built near a port of entry in Tecate, Calif., in eastern San Diego County.
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