House Republicans To Obama: Finish The Border Fence

Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and four other House Republicans wrote to President Barack Obama this week, asking him to order the completion of a fence along the country’s southern border.

In the letter, Royce refers to the recent alleged murder of an American citizen who was sightseeing on the Mexican side of Falcon Lake, Texas by pirates as the last straw in the debate over securing the border.

“It has become apparent that the Mexican government and law enforcement authorities are either unwilling or unable to address this problem unilaterally,” Royce says. “We must complete construction of the border fence.”

Earlier this year, Obama responded to heightened violence in northern Mexico by pledging 1,200 National Guardsmen to the border. Royce and his colleagues say more patrollers are needed to prevent such crime from spilling over into the U.S.

“It is unrealistic, if not pure insanity, to believe that a mere 1,200 National Guard troops…can effectively cover the nearly 2,000 mile long Southwestern border of the United States,” Royce said. “We must put additional bodies on the ground.”

An amendment offered by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) back in May to send 6,000 National Guardsmen to the border failed in the Senate.

Currently, the U.S. employs roughly 20,000 mostly centralized border patrol agents, who together, cover a span of less than 700 miles. It is believed that nearly 500,000 illegal border entries into the U.S. occur each year.

Furthermore, only 650 miles of a comprehensive border fence that was started by the U.S government in 2006 has been completed. Some lawmakers who have toured the border say that some parts of the “fence” consist simply of flimsy barriers or unoccupied vehicles.