So where have I been? Apparently we are building a fence on the border between the US and Mexico? I thought that idea got vetoed..I guess not. According to this article: “the multibillion-dollar fence project that stretches from the Pacific surf at Tijuana to the Gulf of Mexico near Brownsville, Texas” is proceeding at full force without any sign of slowing down. As of June 13th, 331 miles of fencing have already been built. You are probably wondering, that’s great Elizabeth but how does that relate to foreign policy? Well, it represents a perfect example of presidential reactivity without a comprehensive plan to back up the decision. We were just talking about this yesterday, how to be an effective president and make effective policies, you have to consider all information out there and examine the pros and cons before jumping into action, something both of the Bushs’ lack. This article claims that there are a lot of reasons to halt the construction of the security fencing, but that neither the president nor the supreme court care to listen why. This matter is highly debated and controversial but it poses a conflict between security and the environment. The fence is known to highly jeopardize the lives of already endangered species and also will impede on the lives of marine mammals. The thing that caught my eye is that in order to pass this legislation to begin the fencing project, “in 2005 Congress gave the administration wide-reaching power to waive environmental and other laws that could stand in the way”….since when can the government just bypass laws in order to proceed with new laws? Apparently this happens a lot, and even more in international law. Not good, I think we need a return to basics. The article is available here: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D91G1J80G&show_article=1 Let me know what you think.
June 24, 2008 at 2:32 pm |
I must have been out of the loop as well because I had no idea that they were building a fence. I’m sure curious as to how this whole fence thing is supposed to work. Are they going to build it so tall that no one can climb over it? Because that required a lot of money and is going to take a lot of time. Maybe they should just build a stone wall. It stopped people from going back and forth in Germany so it should work there too. This whole fence thing is just ridiculous to me.
June 24, 2008 at 3:05 pm |
Yah I too think its completely irrational and unrealistic. We’ll see how it plays out.
June 26, 2008 at 10:00 am |
I think everyone was out of the loop with this whole fence thing. I wonder if it will cause more trouble than good. I feel that a fence will not stop people even though it will now present a tougher challenge. I feel the government could use that money for better use, maybe better patrolling. I feel that eventually this fence will have to be taken down and then what was the fence good for?
June 27, 2008 at 6:55 pm |
Although I agree that the Bush Administration needs to consider all factors that will be affected by raising a fence on the border. I am willing to give them a little bit more credit that they have considered alternatives. I don’t think that the government just acts on a whim and says “let’s throw up a fence.” I would like to believe that it was a calculated decision and have no reason to believe otherwise. It is a shame that the fence will potentially affect wild life I cannot think specifically what will be affected considering that the fence will be built in the desert. The fence should allow for a lower number of guards at the borders and should be rather effective. I am assuming that our government has weighed the pros and the cons and decided in favor of this initiative. Controversial perhaps, effective most likely – still questions to be answered that can only be known by the actual placement of the fence. Although I disagree with a lot of policies of the bush administration this is not one of them.
June 27, 2008 at 7:30 pm |
I agree that I would like to believe they government has weighed the pros and cons. The money we might spend to build and protect a fence was most likely be minimal compared to the amount of money we spend on illegal immigrants. Many illegal immigrants bring over millions of dollars worth of drugs into our country. Also many immigrants from other Central American countries travel through Mexio to get here. We also spend money to support illegal immigrants financially while they are not citizens nor pay tax. A fence is a bit out there but at this point the informed goverment officials have weighed the consequences and decided this is a more appropriate measure.
June 28, 2008 at 11:00 am |
week 3 – I would have to agree with jalhaj on this topic… our government does not just flip a coin and start mindless plans with no meaning behind them…it might be interesting to blog about the other possibilities or constraints like we did in our brief so we could understand why they would make a solution like a WALL… it almost sounds funny… that we are building a wall… and it also reminds me of the Berlin Wall (i know its VERY different) but just the idea of a wall sounds silly to me… I wonder how this is effecting our relations with Mexico… I would love to go more in depth on this topic!