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If good fences make good neighbors, what about bad
fences? You could ask local officials and residents along the
U.S.-Mexico border about that. They hate the monstrous wall that Bush and
the Congress have decreed be erected to separate our countries. Not only is
the wall a repugnant blemish on their landscape, severing the everyday
cross-border flow of life, but the darned thing doesn’t work. The
claim of the fence builders is that it will keep workers from the south
from crossing into the United States illegally. Local folks know, however,
that that’s a bad joke. First of all, Washington’s wall covers only 700
of our 2,000-mile border, and long experience shows that many migrants will
simply flow through the gaps. Others are already making gaps of their own.
On one completed stretch of the fence near Columbus, N.M., human ingenuity
is winning out over bullheaded barricade builders. Border agents report
that they started seeing cuts in the towering wall “almost
immediately” after it was constructed. Using everything from simple
hacksaws to plasma torches that can slice quickly through steel, immigrants
have found their way through. At least one group has bungee-jumped into the
country! Also, the fence itself is creating convenient gaps,
for the heavy structure is settling into the unstable ground. As it
settles, the parts split — so much so that agents say determined
migrants can push themselves through. Meanwhile, this multibillion-dollar
monument to political stupidity does nothing to deter the 40 percent of
immigrants who make a legal visit to the United States for business,
vacation, or other purposes, then don’t go home. Walling off Mexico might make some politicians feel
good, but it’s not going to stop human ingenuity and determination.
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator,
columnist, and author.
This article appears in May 15-21, 2008.
