LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWSDecember 30, 2006
Cost of fence along U.S.-Mexico border pegged at $60 billion The latest estimate is 10 times higher than earlier expected. Even more would be needed to purchase land.
WASHINGTON -- A hotly disputed fence on the U.S.-Mexico border will cost more than $60 billion -- nearly 10 times more than original estimates -- with billions more needed for land acquisition and maintenance, according to a new government study. While officials have estimated that the 850-mile fence will cost $7 billion to erect, the report notes that maintenance could cost as much as $70 million per mile over its 25-year life span and that miles of private property in Texas still must be purchased. The new cost estimates come as a Democratic-controlled Congress prepares to revisit the contentious issue of reducing illegal immigration. And a number of lawmakers have called for a re-evaluation of the fence now being built. "It won't ever get built the way it was mandated," predicted Marshall Fritz, advocacy director for the Washington, D.C.-based American Immigration Lawyer's Association. "I don't think you're going to see them repeal the law. It's just a matter of whether you're going to see them fund the entire thing." Before adjourning earlier this month, the House and Senate passed legislation to extend a 14-mile fence already under way in San Diego east to Arizona and Texas. President Bush signed the measure into law. Lawmakers have allocated $1.2 billion for the fence's infrastructure and technology. But the fence also has raised the ire of many Democrats, who call it an unnecessary and costly diplomatic obstacle. And now they will be in charge of deciding how much funding the project will get. According to the Congressional Research Service report released earlier this month, the hidden costs of the fence far outweigh known expenses. "At issue for Congress is how best to allocate scarce border security resources while safeguarding homeland security," investigators wrote in the first government study to examine long-term costs of the newly expanded fence. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who will head the House Homeland Security Committee, has indicated he will re-evaluate the project -- a plan that could involve denying additional funding. Other lawmakers -- including Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. -- have met to discuss a renewed immigration bill that would offer a guest-worker program and a means for millions of illegal immigrants to obtain legal status. Any funding cuts, however, are certain to spark debate. Bob Dane, a spokesman for the Federation for Immigration Reform, a D.C.-based group that advocates against illegal and most legal immigration, called the barrier a necessary expense. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who supports extending the fence, has not taken a position on future funding, said her spokesman, Scott Gerber. According to the Congressional Research Service report, the 14-mile fence in California has been effective in reducing illegal crossing arrests. But officials note that many believe illegal immigrants are simply crossing the border in Arizona instead. And investigators warned Congress that extending the fence through Arizona and Texas will still leave vulnerabilities. One side effect could be an increase in tunnels like the ones discovered this year.
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