that's a hard one. do you think that a physical fence is going to keep people out? think of all the other countries that have that same thing and see how successful it is. i don't really know of any real solutions that the government could implement. with such a high price tag - we can hope that something does the country good.

I don't understand what this is. It's virtual, like you can see it but walk right through it or it zaps you or something? The link does not really explain either.
If it's virtual, why not make it look a mile high?

redegg I was wondering the same thing.

redegg, you have to put on virtual reality glasses to see it. That's why the price tag is so high, they have to make every illegal immigrant attempting the border gets suited up with a pair of goggles before they attempt to cross or they won't see the "virtual wall."

It seems like the "virtual wall" is more of a high tech monitoring system than an actual structure to keep people from physically crossing. So it raises the question "If the border patrol can see everyone who is attempting to cross, do they have enough people to actually go out and stop the people from crossing?"

I also wonder, as you all noted the article isn't really too detailed, if they are able to monitor movement underground with this technology. Since people use tunnels also, it would be a great benefit.

All in all, it seems that this is no solution by itself, but that in addition to a physical wall, it could prove to be a bit more of a deterrent.

it's amusing to see America waste money on fences and such crap do you honestly thinktht people on't find anoter way to get in??? i mean come on now. Tehre are so may measures beign taked by the West to counteract illegal immigrtion and yet these immigrants are stil pouring into these nations.

Clearly I forgot how to write english and I'm too lazy to correct it.

"it's amusing to see America waste money on fences and such crap do you honestly thinktht people on't find anoter way to get in???" - Clearly leaving the border wide open with a nice big welcome sign would be the answer......

wide open, fenced up, locked up, sealed up, whatever, it won't stop these people who traffic other people into America, they will only find other ways. As far as I'm concerned ilegal immigration is a scourge that's going to be pretty hard to stop and whoever finds a way to stop it, props to them. the EU is introducing the use of biometric data and they are mulling things such as using eye recognitions or electronic fingerrint recognition at British airports, I'm just waiting to see whether this will work.

nyara, I suppose it is funny

I mean we could do absolutely nothing and just as 3M said, put a nice big welcome sign up.

I'm not saying the measures will stop all illegal immigration, but I do believe these will be a great benefit in the reduction.

While this may not have a huge impact on human traffickers, mostly because they are very planned out and organized in their tactics, it will impede them from just driving over the border.

This will impact those who are making the journey on their own or as a small group, i.e. non-professionals. While spending this money will not stop all illegal immigration, it will help to stop some and act as a deterrent, which is much better than leaving the border wide open.

One of the biggest deterrents will be the prosecution of those hiring illegal immigrants. If those who come here illegally can't find work, there will be less reason for those to come illegally, unless of course we keep adding social/liberal programs that support those who are here illegally.

Cine, maybe we could get Mickey Mouse and some of the greeters from WalMart to stand at the border and welcome everyone into the country.

Eh cine as someone said since 1620(or somewhere thereabouts) every group of immigrants to America has tried to fend off or keep out a new wave of immigrants coing to America. It's a cycle that's been going on for ages. I'm sure there are other ways but a fence?? Electrified fences don't keep thieves out. Ask Egypt and Isral how well a border fence works. But yout hink a fence is agood idea and I think it's a waste of time and money, let's agree to disagree c'est la vie.

3M, We can hand them one of those little maps, so they know where to go and where to be hired.

And I would like to add 3M, if some liberals have it their way, they will get Universal health care on our dime as well. That is one way to deter them.

nyara I have no problem disagreeing, but do you have any other suggestions to secure boarders?

3M and Cine! I agree

Oh and I am not trying to keep immigrants out, just ILLEGAL immigrants out.

I'm not sure I would care what the EU is doing or anyone else for that matter. I don't think most countries have as severe problem with this as we do. The EU countries have the same currencies which evens out their economies more, so what is the benefit of running between one EU country to the other? And the Middle East is entirely crappy except for maybe one or two cities where only the very wealthy are in good shape.

This country is doing very well and Mexico isn't. So this problem makes a huge dent in our quality of life that isn't seen in most countries. Not to mention that our currencies are not congruent at all, so when Mexicans send money back home, as most of them do, it makes a huge difference to our economy.

A fence isn't the be all end all solution, but its a start and it sends a message that we only want people to come here LEGALLY.

cine_lover i dont because i'm really not bothered by illegal immigrants and it's not my job and I doubt whether I sat for hors and thought about it I could come up with a concrete or viable solution hence why I said whoever solves this problem y props to them.I'm not an American as well so it doesn't get to me and even if i was I still wouldn't be bothered and I come from a place where 3 million people have migrated both legally and illegally so they can feed their families, so I can see why sometimes peole become illgal immigrants.

The problem with border security are the rules of engagement. You have border guards who get shot at by illegals, but can't shoot back out of fear of being brought up on charges or being sued. It's insanity.

I can understand completely why people are illegal immagrants, but if you steal a loaf of bread to feed your family, you are still stealing. Our number one priority and concern should be to American citizens.

Oh, yeah, Europe has severe immigration problems!! Where do you think most refugees and immigrants go? All the way to the U.S.? How would they get there? West Europe is the easiest of choices for (illegal) Sri Lank-ans, Nigerians, East Europeans, Iranians, Palestinians, Turks, Kurds, Pakistani, Iraqi, Algerians, Afghan, Somali, Russians, etc.. It's a BIG problem. Imagine if the U.S. was landlocked and the size of Kansas, with Mexico surrounding it.

***immigrants

"You have border guards who get shot at by illegals, but can't shoot back out of fear of being brought up on charges or being sued."

Thanks ACLU!

Morning Tres and Cabaker by the way!

A huge fence isn't the answer. I'm not really quite sure what is, but a big fence? C'mon- let's learn from those high tech squirrel blockers on bird feeders: they'll find another way in.

Morning everyone

I agree with Cabaker! How are they supposed to protect themselves. It angers me.

Tres how very P.C of you! Yes, let me rephrase. Good morning EVERYONE!

Especially Shopaholichunny

So you put up the fence let's say it works, you've blocked the south and central americans from entering that way. What about the ports and the airports? What measures will be taken there? What about the Canadian border?

nyara, I am going to quote Cabaker, "A fence isn't the be all end all solution, but its a start and it sends a message that we only want people to come here LEGALLY."

It is one step in a very long hike.

Ah, cine, I'd give you a hug but you're so far away
By the way, my long comment can come off rather loud, but I didn't mean it like that.

very ong hike to nowhere lol. oh well i guess we'll see in a few years how eefective all these measures will be. My money is on the ilegal immigrants. I could never be a border guard or immigraion officer or do immgration law, I'm way too soft hearted, one god sob tory and I'd robbly grant them amnesty.

I love when people say the solution is to "talk" with Mexico.

Whatever, like that guy wants it stop! Please! All the revenue his economy gets from people sending money home, no way is he gonna help us.

BTW, I'm all for punishing companies that hire illegals, as long as we have a good guest worker program in place.

Good morning Cine and Tres...

Tres, where were you on the abortion issue yesterday?!?

nyara, I certainly hope, a fence in conjunction with other measures i.e. going after the employers, will make the hike more bearable.

And believe it or not, I am an old softy too. You just can't tell from this forum.

I think maybe I'm so cynical cos I've seen all the measures that England has been taking over the pst few years to try and lessen th wave of illegal immigrants, and I speak of England and europe cos back home that's the news we used to follow and read American never featured much, but not much has happened. Can you believe that one of the people wo was handling the major aylum seeers csaes in England was an ilegal mmigrant from my country. He managed to get such a high ranking government postition all with false papers and passed all the security check, so I think if he can do that what can al these gangs and syndicates that help illegal immigrants do? There has to be a beter way to do this whoe immigration both legal and illegal actually.

Oh, I missed something? Crap. I have this deal with myself that I only go into so and so many threads every day, so that I actually get other things done as well. Pick my battles, though I'm really bad at following through on my own promise. But I want to talk abortion!

I think our border issue is a difficult matter. I think we need to pull in every direction we can, and that one approach doesn't exclude the others.

Ah Tres you missed a good one! It actually stayed pretty clean, surprisingly. We actually got a guy, MMM, to join in on the fun, which is very rare in abortion topics.

Nyara, I can understand being cynical. I have friends and family in Europe, who have said that the racism is getting out of control over their because of all the illegal immigrants.

oh yeah definitely cine but it seems like just generally everywhere racism is on the rise even in Afrca there has been an increase of anti-foreigner sentiment. I remember in Italy everyone was so horrid about and to the Moroccans, it was pretty terrible. Indian, pakistanis, Albanians, Serbians, Russians, Nigerians they all got it pretty bad from the cop and the immigrtion officers because of the high incidence of illegals from their nations.

"What about the ports and the airports? What measures will be taken there?" If someone is coming through the ports and airports, they have been initially screened by immigrations. I'm not saying that no one who goes through these areas will not stay for the longterm illegally, but it less likely than someone who, from the very beginning, crossed into the country illegally. As noted, we will never be able to stop all illegal immigration, but we try to deter it to the best of our ability.

Additionally, if someone stays illegally, at least we know who they are, where they are from and if they have done anything criminally in the past. They needed to go through customs with a valid passport, this is not the case with someone who has snuck through the desert.

"What about the Canadian border?" - Well, Canada is a very different place than Mexico. I'm not saying that people don't cross the border illegally from the North, but it is not as large of a problem as it is to the south. Canada has a decent government and economy, so people aren't trying t escape the country like they do from Mexico. Hence, there isn't a large influx of Canadians running across the border. Additionally, you don't find as much money being sent to Canada as is sent to Mexico, so it isn't as much of a strain on the economy.

All in all, it is about dealing with the larger problem first. Secondly, we'll see that all illegal immigration will be slowed by holding employers accountable for their employment practices.

"I think our border issue is a difficult matter. I think we need to pull in every direction we can, and that one approach doesn't exclude the others." - Very well put. I think that this is one of the issues when discussing only a certain aspect of this topic, we loose sight that this is not the only thing being done, but part of a bigger initiative.

Nyara, I am surprised that there is not more news in America (citizen sugar) about the racism over seas. I mean I know about it, from friends and family and the few articles I have found, but it is really not news here.

I think that even though it's increased it's still under the radar and not reported that much. a lot of it is targeted towards these illegal immigrants and where can they go and another thing is that in prts of eastern Europe where the "nationalist" sentiment is strong it's not viewed as racism more like protecting your nation and your jobs from the foreign devils. The world's largest group of skinheads live in Europe with 300 000 in Russia alone I know I repeat that statistic a lot but dang that's a lot of out and proud racists right there, that gives me the heebie jeebies. I feel like the world is slowly sliding back and it worries me.

Does anyone live along the border? I'm interested on what you think about the issue.

The fence is a HORRIBLE IDEA. I feel so strongly about this. first of all , I come from a border town, and a fence will look horrible!!!! My town/city is the prettiest and cleanest of all the borders in texas (really, it is, that's what its considered to be) Its also a very small border. we don't need a wall... thats what the border patrol is for.

Illegal Immigrants will find a way to cross anyway. most of them don't cross thru the desert... the come in a truck (indie film: la tragedia de macario.. watch it), in a car on the copilots seat, flying, etc....

I make no sense.. i know. this just makes me angry. plus its expensive... what da h....

Its discriminating, offensive, uncomfortable, unpretty and it won't work. IT like the berlin wall gone anti-mexican

Soooo we've paid lots of tax money for a "virtual wall" that covers 28 miles of 1,969? Hmmmmm.... I think we're probably going to have to fork over lots more money for those aforementioned virtual-reality glasses....

I live in Berlin, Germany, and this is the city with the second largest population of Turks, after Istanbul. Imagine that. Moreover, I live in the Turkish part of town, Kreuzberg. Here things are quite good, with healthy relations between ethnic Germans and Turks, but other places in Germany are not functioning so well, and there are a lot of hate crimes. France, Britain, Italy; they all have the same problem. Here in Berlin Turkish people work in the restaurants and stores, and there is a lot of family businesses, and this way they have a future for their kids and get assimilated with the German language and people. But the European countries have in large part exceeded their limits for dealing with large populations of people who have different historical and cultural heritage.

Good Morning Everyone, I was unsure of the wall or force field will it have electric shock - if so ohh my, that would be a shock.