Report: White House to bypass red tape, complete border fence

Border fence advocate Colin Hanna is pleased the Bush administration is willing to take a bold step to complete construction of nearly 700 miles of fencing along the border with Mexico, as directed by Congress.

Hanna, president of WeNeedaFence.com, considers it a positive sign that federal officials say the administration intends to bypass more than 30 laws and regulations in an effort to complete 670 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border by the end of the year, as mandated by the Secure Fence Act of 2006. Congress has authorized the legal waivers to cut through bureaucratic red tape and sidestep environmental laws that currently stand in the way of the Department of Homeland Security building 267 miles of fencing in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
 
Hanna says the Bush administration made the right decision. "The whole idea [is] that when there is a serious conflict between national security interests and environmental interests ... the national security interests should trump the environmental concerns. It's a perfectly sound concept," he argues.
 
And Hanna believes the American people have been heard. "There's simply no question about the breadth of public support for serious efforts at border security," he offers. "The fence isn't the only thing that's needed for border security, and border security isn't the only thing that's needed to solve the immigration problem -- but a fence is an essential component of achieving real border security."
 
Hanna says only after the borders are secured can there be any discussion about comprehensive immigration reform.
 
On its website, WeNeedaFence.com describes the type of border fence it believes would be most effective. That design incorporates vehicle barriers on the U.S. side; a rugged chain-link type fence 12 to 15 feet high on each side of a patrol road; surveillance cameras and underground tunneling detectors; and a ditch that is deep and wide enough to prevent vehicles from ramming the fence at high speed.