Build The Fence

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, April 28, 2009 4:20 PM PT

Security: A Democratic congressman proposes closing the border to contain the spread of swine flu. Meanwhile, a pending bill would build a fence to prevent the transit of illegal guns, illegal aliens — and disease.

If you listen to the mainstream media, the swine flu pandemic, at least in the United States, is being spread by tourists and college students returning from spring break. Little or no mention is made of the thousands of illegal aliens streaming across our border from Mexico, some undoubtedly bringing with them more than a desire for a better life.

Nearly two years ago we warned that one of the consequences of illegal immigration was the reemergence of diseases long thought to be vanquished. Among the infections being spread were a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis and an outbreak of dengue fever in Webb County, Texas.

"The influx of illegal aliens has serious hidden medical consequences," according to Madeline Pelner Cosman, Ph.D., author of a report in the spring 2005 issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.

The potential spread of infectious diseases through illegal immigration gives a whole new meaning to the phrases "yearning to breathe free."

Diseases such as swine flu are no respecter of class. They can enter in the first-class section of a 747 or in the back of a pickup truck. But airport terminals are relatively easy to secure and passengers easy to screen. Illegal aliens migrating though the open Arizona desert are not.

Rep. Eric Massa, D-N.Y., a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, has called for the "immediate" and "complete" closure of the U.S. border with Mexico until the swine flu pandemic is brought under control. Presumably that includes more than legal points of entry.

"I am making this announcement because I see it as a serious threat to the health of the American people, and I do not believe this issue is receiving the attention it needs to have on the news," said Massa.

As longtime advocates of a secure border, we agree that the consequences of open borders from a national security economic or public health perspective have not been adequately addressed. We also take note of the escalating drug war in Mexico that is spilling across the border and the finger-pointing regarding drugs and guns.

It seems to us that a real border fence would go a long way toward addressing all these issues. To that end, Rep. Duncan Hunter, who represents San Diego, has introduced legislation to speed up completion of the long-planned and poorly executed border fence system authorized by Congress in the Secure Fence Act of 2006.

It has been reported that the fence is nearly complete, with some 600 of the planned 700 miles of actual fence built. But according to Joe Kasper, a spokesman for Hunter, the 600 figure is "misleading because over half the infrastructure along the border consists of vehicle barriers, which do not limit illegal foot traffic."

Hunter proposes 350 miles more of real fencing — the kind used so successfully in the San Diego border sector. The two-tier fence in San Diego runs 14 miles along the border with Tijuana, Mexico.

The first layer is a high steel fence, with an inner high anti-climb fence with a no-man's land in between. It has been amazingly effective. According to a 2005 report by the Congressional Research Service, illegal alien apprehensions in the San Diego sector dropped from 202,000 in 1992 to 9,000 in 2004.

With a real fence, the threat of a failed state in Mexico, cross-border violence, the two-way transit of guns and drugs, and the spread of infectious disease could all be greatly reduced, if not eliminated.

We could all breathe a lot easier.