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Foot Dragging On the Border Fence But Billions for Fences Along Our Highways
By Bradley Blakeman
FOXNews.com
American poet Robert Frost
wrote, "good fences make good neighbors" in his
poem "Mending Wall." At first blush you would think Frost meant it
literally. However, the poet reminds us that before a fence can be seen as a
"good fence," there must be a good reason and need for the fence being erected
in the first place. Certainly I hope we all agree that the
Berlin wall was not a "good fence" as it was
both offensive and oppressive. But, there are instances where in fact, fences
can and do make good neighbors.
I happen to believe that high border
fences will make good neighbors even better neighbors and more responsible ones
at that.
Regardless of whether it is the southern border or the northern
border, America has a paramount need to protect and secure our borders albeit
with fencing, surveillance, personnel, or equipment. Thousands of illegal
immigrants flood across our borders everyday without permission or challenge. --
Fencing is not required to keep Americans from leaving it is necessary to
prevent persons from entering our country without invitation or permission.
There is not a municipality in America that does not regulate or mandate
fencing; in fact there are well-established zoning laws in many jurisdictions
that require neighbors to share the expense of property-bordering fences. I
doubt very seriously that either the Mexican or Canadian governments would rush
to contribute to such a structure. In reality the Mexican government has fought
tooth and nail against the United States erecting border fencing.
The
irony about fence building is the fact that America is
investing well over a billion dollars in highway border fencing to
protect home owners and businesses from highway noise and pollution and to
safeguard stray animals from harm.
In many instances the fencing to secure our highways
is higher and studier than fencing to secure our borders. America today has
erected thousands of miles of highway fencing at great expense and in excess in
mileage of what is needed to secure our national borders.
How is it
possible that we can erect thousands of miles of highway noise barrier
fencing but we cannot manage to erect fencing to secure our borders?
Is highway noise a more
dangerous national security threat than a safe and secure national border? I
think not!
Jon Dougherty of Worldnetdaily.com recently reported that the
Federal Highway Administration stated that most highway fencing are constructed
of concrete or masonry block and range from 9-16 feet in height and cost between
$175 and $200 a square meter for product.
According to the American
Association of State and Highway
Transportation Officials there are "more than 2,630 linear miles of
sound barriers, (fencing), along U.S. highways at a cost of $1.4 billion
dollars."
Remember the opposition to
Israel's decision to erect border fencing along
the border of the Palestinian Territory? The fact is that since Israel did erect
its border fencing, Israel managed to reduce terrorist attacks by ninety-five
percent.
All
parties, Americans, Canadians and Mexicans should agree, "high border
fences make good neighbors." It is in the best interests of all parties that
they have command and control over their own land and especially their borders.
Real and present dangers require America to have secure borders. It is not a
question of where or not to do it. If our neighbors will not help us, then we
need to spend the necessary funds to do it ourselves.
While I love my
neighbor, when I go out in my backyard to enjoy my
property
Bradley A.
Blakeman served as deputy assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001-04. He
is currently a professor of Politics and Public Policy at Georgetown University
and a frequent contributor to Fox News Opinion.