Fence First Forces Persevere - Finally!

President Bush speaks in Scottsdale, Ariz., Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2006 where he signed the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act. From left are, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, the president, Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., and Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz. Image Credit: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Fence First Forces Persevere - Finally!

Whadda-U-Mean Washington don't listen to da' little guy.

Back in March, you had illegals a marchin' and makin' noise (you know, flyin' mexian flags n' hangin' the American flag upside-down and all).

Today, near election time, ya' have Dubya a signin' a 700 mile fence bill without any provisions for dealin' with the 12 million illegals that are here - First Things First, that's what MAXINE would always say!

Mexican nationals peer through the fence along the U.S.-Mexico border at Border Field State Park in San Ysidro, Calif., on Aug. 24. Image Credit: Sandy Huffaker / Getty Images file

Excerpts from AP via Yahoo! News -

Bush signs homeland security bill
By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer Wed Oct 4, 2:47 PM ET

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - President Bush on Wednesday signed a homeland security bill that includes an overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $1.2 billion for fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border to stem illegal immigration.

Standing before a mountainous backdrop in Arizona, a state that has been the center of much debate over secure borders, Bush signed into law a $35 billion homeland security spending bill that could bring hundreds of miles of fencing to the busiest illegal entry point on the U.S.-Mexican border.

Bush said enforcement alone will not stop illegal immigration, and urged Congress to pass his guest worker program to legally bring in new foreign workers and give some of the country's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants a shot at U.S. citizenship.

"The funds that Congress has appropriated are critical for our efforts to secure this border and enforce our laws, yet we must also recognize that enforcement alone is not going to work,"
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Among other things, Bush said the homeland security funding bill deploys nuclear detection equipment to points of entry, raises safety security standards at chemical plants, provides better tools to enforce immigration laws and provides vehicle barriers, lighting and infrared cameras to help catch illegals trying to cross the border.

Members of the 116th Construction Equipment Support Company of the Utah National Guard extend a wall, 06 June 2006 along the US border with Mexico, a few miles from the border crossing point at San Luis, Arizona. The US Senate approved late 29 September 2006 a bill that calls for building a fence along the US-Mexican border to stem the flow of illegal immigrants. Image Credit: ROBYN BECK / AFP/Getty Images

"It's what the people in this country want," Bush said. "They want to know that we are modernizing the border so we can better secure the border."

Outgoing Mexican President Vicente Fox, who has spent his six-year term lobbying for a new guest worker program and an amnesty for the millions of Mexicans working illegally in the United States, has called the barrier "shameful." He compares it to the Berlin Wall.
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Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., a senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the homeland security spending bill does not improve screening of cargo carried on passenger planes, does not provide money to buy and install advanced explosive-detection equipment and does not include strong enough security requirements to protect against a terrorist attack on chemical plants.

"There are nightclubs in New York City that are harder to get into than some of our chemical plants," Markey said.
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