Arizonans who don't believe the federal government has done all that it can to secure the border now have a chance to put their money where their mouth is.
A new website authorized by the Legislature is being set up today where individuals can donate to a special fund to have this state and the other three along the border finance their own fence where there is none now, or where the fence may be inadequate. Individuals and corporations can find out where to send their checks or even give online with a credit card.
Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, acknowledged he's not likely to get the kind of cash necessary to build the kind of metal walls he believes are necessary along the approximately 1,300 miles of southwest border where there is not already fencing. After all, he figures, costs could run anywhere from $400,000 to $3 million a mile; his immediate goal is to raise $15 million.
But Smith said even raising that could allow for construction of a fence for the high-traffic areas. He figures that once some areas are clearly no longer paths into this country, that would funnel would-be crossers into a fewer number of areas, into the waiting arms of the Border Patrol.
If nothing else, Smith said he believes that once Arizona and other states start building their own fencing, that might embarrass the federal government into doing more on its own.
Money aside, other problems remain.
The biggest of these is that the state cannot just put up fencing where it wants. That means consent of either the federal government, which has a 60-foot easement along the border, or the adjacent landowners.
There was no comment from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The law is the latest effort by Arizona lawmakers to have the state take a role in dealing with the problem of illegal immigration.
Most of the efforts to this point have been focused on going after those who have made it into the country. That includes making life more difficult by denying certain benefits and allowing judges to close down companies found guilty of knowingly hiring undocumented workers.
What Smith hopes to do is keep people from crossing the border illegally in the first place.
He said that Congress in 2006 required Homeland Security to get "operational control" of the border. Smith said that essentially means preventing all unlawful entries into this country, whether by those looking for work, drug couriers or terrorists.
Smith noted that President Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have both declared that the border is "as secure as it ever has been." More recently, the president, in a speech in El Paso, said the fencing mandated by Congress is virtually complete.
"It's lies," Smith said. "That's the easiest and most blunt way I can put it."
By the numbers, Homeland Security has completed 649 miles of fencing. That's just two miles short of what was planned, with that last stretch in litigation.
That includes 299 miles of vehicle fences and 350 miles of pedestrian fencing.
Of that total, 306 miles is in Arizona, with nearly 183 miles of vehicle fences and the balance being pedestrian fencing.
But the Arizona border is 388 miles long; it is nearly 2,000 miles from San Diego to Brownsville.
And Smith said even those numbers are misleading.
"They think anything erected in the sand is a fence," he said. Smith said he does not consider vehicle barriers - essentially large pylons or poles in the ground - much of a barrier at all, since individuals can walk between them.
He also is no more impressed with wire mesh pedestrian fences which can be cut.
"There's about 13 miles of what I consider a fence in Arizona," Smith said: solid corrugated steel barriers, at least 18 feet high.
He acknowledged that such a barrier along the entire border, even if it could be funded, is impractical, what with rivers and other environmental issues. But Smith said that's where the state could use technology, putting in sensors that would alert Border Patrol to crossers.
That still leaves the issue of where it could be built.
Smith said if the federal easement is off limits, he believes many private landowners would give permission.
Smith said he hopes to model his fundraising after the account that Gov. Jan Brewer set up last year to accept donations to pay the legal bills of the state's defense of SB 1070.
That law, designed to give police more power to detain and arrest suspected illegal immigrants, was challenged by the Obama administration and others. The case is making its way through the legal system after a federal judge enjoined the state from enforcing key provisions.
After a big start, donations to Brewer's fund have tapered off.
Smith believes he can do better, especially at soliciting funds from out-of-state residents.
"If you're in Wisconsin and you're asked to donate to a legal defense fund for 1070, is that tangible?" he said. "If you're in Wisconsin and asked to build a fence for this country, that's tangible. One is paying a lawyer and one is actually erecting a steel fence."
But Brewer told Capitol Media Services that Smith should not count on large amounts of cash just suddenly appearing.
"It's not as easy as they think it is," she said. Brewer said the big influx at the front end came because she made a personal effort, using her high-profile position as governor, to drum up support.
"I'm not in a position right now to be able to do much with the border fence," Brewer said. "I think that's more of a legislative agenda."
Less clear is whether the names of donors will be made public, as the governor has done. While the account is authorized by statute, it is silent on the question of public access to the books.
Smith said he has no problem with disclosing the list of contributors.
As an incentive to give, Smith said that donors on the website, after they're done checking out, will have the opportunity to print out, or have e-mailed to them, a certificate saying they helped build the fence.
soricobob posted at 5:11 am on Wed, Jul 20, 2011.
Hey, Steve, if you want better schools have a yards sale; if you want happier police or fire fighters have a car wash; just don't raise taxes!
Juggernaut6000 posted at 7:07 am on Wed, Jul 20, 2011.
Why should I pay out of pocket for a fence? The fence should be built with the taxes we already pay. Instead of giving all this money to other countries, why not protect the very country where the money comes from?
Obama needs to go and we need to protect the southern border like we protect South Korea. Yes, South Korea is not an American country but we protect them better that we protect our own border.
PeacefulCat posted at 8:09 am on Wed, Jul 20, 2011.
A wall worked so well for Berlin didn't it? please
End the longest, costliest and deadliest war the Drug War; then we won't need a fence. These people who think we are ignorant should be held accountable
Put your money into education
AZ Native posted at 9:11 am on Wed, Jul 20, 2011.
Why would Tax payers be expected to 'DONATE" to a fence fund? Here's an idea; use all seized cash from mexican drug dealers to help build a fence. Stop sending Pakistan money and use it to protect our own borders- beginning with the AZ/ Mexico fence. Should pay for the fence, no problem with the money Pakistan does NOT get from us. Build it high and station machine gunners atop it...let the US military protect our border!
Bingo6 posted at 10:55 am on Wed, Jul 20, 2011.
Amazing the tea party bigots get to freely solicit $50,000,000 to build their stupid fence, but our kids and disabled, our seniors are all thrown to the dogs.
You folks have no conscience, or moral integrity. Forty -five years I've lived, workded, and raised a family in Arizona and I feel as though I've wasted my whole life here.
You people disgust me.
NothingButTheTruth posted at 11:50 am on Wed, Jul 20, 2011.
Amazing the anti tea party racists are allowed to freely speak anything they want in a land where freedom of speech is still a valuable commodity yet all they do is talk about how bad this fence is. It wont throw your kids or seniors to the dogs unless they are illegal alien kids and seniors. You Bingo6 have no conscience or moral integrity. You want to throw my children's future under the bus that brings hundreds of thousands of illiterate, diseased, unskilled poor to my country to destroy my children's future? You disgust me. Take your dogs and go back to Mexico where you belong.
NothingButTheTruth posted at 11:52 am on Wed, Jul 20, 2011.
None of you have to donate to building this fence anymore than you have to donate to defending SB1070. So what's the beef?
NothingButTheTruth posted at 11:53 am on Wed, Jul 20, 2011.
Ya pour all your money into education peacfullcat. You may get c's instead of d's.
Brittanicus posted at 2:22 pm on Wed, Jul 20, 2011.
Donate to the Arizona fence and save Arizona from ECONOMIC illegal aliens
Although the Arizona border fence is not the one originated by the Bush administration signed into law, the fence is a least another enforcement tool to safeguard the State from drug and people trafficker's, along with the meandering tracks of thousands of illegal aliens. The Secure Fence act was initially a double layer fence running parallel with each other, separated by a no-man’s land in between. The 1000 yard space in between would be the rapid movement of the US Border Patrol and immigration agents. The border fence still remains uncompleted, so it’s still open to illegal commerce and has been surveyed over certain lengths of time by the ‘American Patrol’ pro-sovereignty organization in their private aircraft. Their website has up to date recent evaluations, that the border still is wide open and in some cases on Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Game and environmentalist critics have halted access to patrolling agents.
There are also spotters for drug cartels situated on top of high areas, which have full view of agents working and report to criminals how to skirt these apprehension activities. Arizona deserves a maximum safety fence; even if the federal government has refused to discharge their obligations to the ranchers and landowners.
Of late the deaths of several ranchers and the murder of a US Border Agent, has caused a caustic relationship between Arizona Senators, but Homeland Security have stated that over a hundred more border officers have met their end? The need is great for Arizona to achieve the construction, either through government aid or as being recognized now on a website where ordinary Americans can donate their hard earned money. Because of the Federal Government's absence of urgency to stop this occupation, the State of Arizona signed into law SB 1406. This legislation established a website for the purpose of raising funds through donations from the general public, businesses, and corporations across the this nation in an attempt to finance and finish building the border fence. It makes no common sense from the people of America, why the hard-wire political leaders to complete this barrier.
Americans have proved through numerous polls that they want this nation border secure, not just from--ECONOMIC--illegal migrants, but from OTM (Other Than Mexican), these others are from unfriendly countries, that have paid money to the drug cartels to smuggle them across the border. An oversight Homeland Security in a report stated that foreign nationals from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Pakistan, who have connections to Al Qaeda have already arrived here. It seems that they have undergone a change through Hispanic fraudulent documents, to change their names, appearance and learning to speak Spanish.
My guess Congress will only take urgent notice, when there is another massacre on our soil. Our future can only be decided by us, in the coming election. By going to the NumbersUSA website, you can observe for yourself politicians who are committed to keep the borders porous. ALL Tea Party members who are now a large majority in the House are convinced that illegal immigration must be reduced, the--REAL FENCE--built, the implementation of enforcement tools that includes the greatly improved E-Verify, to force illegal aliens out of the job market and Secure Communities, which identifies criminal aliens through fingerprints sent to Homeland Security. The Tea Party that stretches into the millions now of ordinary citizens and green card holders, will not accept any Immigration Reform, recognized as another Amnesty, followed by an overpopulation concept of CHAIN MIGRATION.
The Dream Act can activate yet another mass CHAIN MIGRATION, that all eventually calculated spurs a pyramid scheme of thousands upon thousands of families, as did the 1986 Immigration Control and Reform. Act. Since 1986 Act, the largest group that come here, never paid a penny into welfare, Social Security and Pensions that taxpayers have been paying ever since. There is a huge outlay for illegal immigrants that ranges from billions into the Trillions, for another Amnesty. The Tea PARTY has the--ONLY--answers to engorged government, less taxes and responsibility to Americans and not Foreign Nationals, who have invaded our country. American should not have to compete with unwelcome people from other countries, from across the worlds, which come here to have babies and stealing discretionary entitlements from legal immigrants and citizens. The Tea Party will change laws, to punish foreigners who enter this land without permission, severely; just like Mexico and other governments. The Tea Party will amend the 1986 Immigration law, to make it substantially easy for exceptional people with profession skills, to get special visas; including entrepreneurs.
Arizona needs our help and those not content with the governments excuses for not constructing the REAL DOUBLE FENCE--can donate to the website at: https://www.buildtheborderfence.com/azborder/index.xhtml Organizers in the State Legislature, which created the fund the initial goal is to raise some $50 million to get the work underway. As with the previous alert for donations for combating the (ACLU) American Civil Liberties Union filings, of objections to policing laws with the federal court, the money will definitely start rolling in.
say it will allow average Americans angry and frustrated with the inability of Washington to address the problem of illegal immigration to contribute personally. Of course Leftist Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security, expressed doubts about the effectiveness of physical barriers at the border, using the old diatribe about the 51 foot ladder. However, that illegal alien scaling a ladder, but being confronted by Concertina Razor wire would certainly attain a different response. The radical organization La Raza, funded by George Soros, a Marxist who has openly wants America to come under the influence of International law, would make waves about civil rights. Not mentioning that 8 million or more, illegal aliens have been occupying American jobs.
RationalHuman posted at 4:32 pm on Wed, Jul 20, 2011.
If the corrupt weasels in Congress would return our tax money...the money that was SUPPOSED TO BE USED TO BUILD THE BORDER FENCE, then I could afford to donate. As it is...
"A wall worked so well for Berlin didn't it?"
Psst! Hey PeacefulCat! Here's a little history lesson for you.
The Berlin Wall wasn't built to keep criminals OUT; it was built to keep innocent people IN. I am surprised you were ignorant of this...I blame our education system.
In_God_We_Trust posted at 5:03 pm on Wed, Jul 20, 2011.
PeacefulCat, let me see if I understand you right. If we end the war on drugs then we wont need a fence between America and Mexico? Is that about what you want us to believe here and now? The people who think you are ignorant and should be held accountable number in the hundreds of millions. Perhaps when you finish grade school we can continue this conversation on an adult level. Don't stop learning.
samkat posted at 8:24 pm on Wed, Jul 20, 2011.
Bing: You are free to start your own drive. Those of us who are fed up with the lack of interest on the part of the Obama administration are willing to ante up.
CSalafia posted at 9:50 pm on Wed, Jul 20, 2011.
This is just rich...here's your opportunity to "do the job the Feds won't do" and what's the first thing out of those same lips?
"Donate? Shouldn't taxes pay for that?"
Wow. Simply wow.
Cut spending, neuter gov't.....until it doesn't do what YOU want. You Tea drinkers are just NIMBYs on steroids.
NothingButTheTruth posted at 11:07 pm on Wed, Jul 20, 2011.
CSalafia, you want to pay for the fence with your state taxes? All you have to do is pay the part they didn't charge you as a donation. Of course you donated to the fund to defend sb1070 too right? lol I just saw your picture on twitter and you call other people names? lol http://twitter.com/#!/salafia What we tea partiers are is a group devoted to lower taxes. How does this make us nimbys? I do understand the word's usage. Instead of asking people who may not want to pay extra taxes for a border fence, we merely ask for donations. you look like a bald headed maroon dude. lol
brearbear posted at 7:39 am on Sat, Jul 23, 2011.
Dear U.S.A.
You want cheap border security?
Use old tires which the state can get for almost free, except for the cost of transport to the wall site, and the cost of facing the walls off with adobe or cement, topped off with barbed wire, and/or broken glass embedded into the tops of the walls.
Make tire walls using convict labor.
Patriots whom may have more time than money, can also help by providing free labor, ramming earth into the tires.
Or help and assist with providing yummy community picnic/b.b.q.'s for all the helpers, etc.
Maybe have a patriot camp set up for all the workers and helpers, with festivities, bonfires etc. Make it fun!
Or they can help by hauling a load of tires/cement to the site..
People who have more money than time, can help provide money to pay for under employed citizens, to ram the earth, lend a crane, or offer use of a truck/cement mixer etc.
1 tire takes a person approximately half an hour with a sledge hammer, using earth. A rammed earth tire supposedly weighs approx. 350 pounds once rammed full.
Tire walls can be as thick as you want.
Double triple them up or more in certain areas.
The part of the tire where the "air" goes can also be filled with cement, a crane lifts the cement brick, then when the brick is laid, the "donut hole" part can either be filled in with rammed earth, or more cement.
Yup, fill the wall face in with cement or adobe, and you could have a pretty darn, long lasting wall.
Want to save more cash on this idea?
Only cement the Mexico side, so it is smooth, and extremely hard to scale it.
The U.S.A. side can be spray painted using an environmentally friendly paint, that is earth tone's, camouflage colors, so it blends in with nature as much as possible.
(And not that much of an eyesore).
I also suggest building a home with this idea, to cheaply fortify your retreat or homestead, or fallout shelter. Cement tire bricks, post and beam, and berm it.
Research Earthships.
I am Canadian. Love ya U.S.A.!
Cheers!
Brearbear
Masterrogue666 posted at 1:46 pm on Sat, Jul 23, 2011.
CSalafia: If you check out the statistics for the DUAL FENCE for Yuma, AZ, you find that it DOES work. Will it stop ALL crossings? No, of course not. Will it help slow it down to a trickle so our overburdened border officers can catch more. However, it won't matter until King Obama is out of office, or starts to listen to the MAJORITY of US CITIZENS and stops trying to give amnesty to a bunch of criminals.
By the way, taxes had been lowered by Bush, and Obama tried to raise them again....
AmericanPatriot posted at 7:17 pm on Sun, Jul 24, 2011.
On the other hand, you koolaid drinkers may continue to call us tea drinkers if you so desire
AmericanPatriot posted at 1:53 pm on Mon, Jul 25, 2011.
CSalafia, you are reported.
evtrib posted at 9:42 pm on Mon, Jul 25, 2011.
Some of you should be made aware that mounting a campaign to get another user banned is considered cyberbullying and is, in itself, grounds for banning. Report comments if you wish, but turning threads into a personal attack won't be tolerated, no matter what the reason. Keep it on topic, please.
AmericansFirst posted at 8:22 am on Thu, Jul 28, 2011.
The wall is needed. Period. I have a way to get additional contributions from the very people who should be paying for this wall...the illegals. Tax all money wired from any wire-point (Western Union, any "money wires to Mexico" etc.) at a rate of 20%. Use all of this money to help Arizona build the wall.
Why? Because all money earned by illegals is illegally earned. Illegals are felons and are stealing money from US citizens. The federal government has no qualms about taxing YOU at 20% and your money is legally earned.
Unlike other taxes, this one is easy to collect. It does not require a massive bureaucracy to enforce like the income tax does. When someone wires money to Mexico, 20% is withheld and sent in to the Arizona Taxation and Revenue Department (or whatever it is called in Arizona). This money must be earmarked for the wall so it can't be stolen by liberal politicians and diverted from it's proper use.
I don't know how many of the estimated 12-14 million illegals in the United States are in Arizona, but if it is 1/50th (one state out of 50), that is 240,000. If they wire 1/50th of the estimated $22 billion a year wired to Mexico, that amounts to $440,000,000. Wow, 20% of that is $88,000,000 the first year to help build Arizona's wall. And if that means more illegals pack up and leave Arizona, is that necessarily a bad thing?
I will close now and wait for the inevitable barrage of hate postings ("cruel, racist, 'right-wing nut-job'") etc., from those who can't debate the facts. Do the math first. The estimates are from all the media stories from ALL the networks over the years. Can't debate the math? Then your emotion makes no difference.
NothingButTheTruth posted at 1:33 pm on Fri, Jul 29, 2011.
I understand how you feel AmericansFirst. Much of the money the illegals steal is sent back to Mexico and elsewhere south of the border to feed their children back home. This is a travesty, but don't you think you should be a little more reasonable to the plight of these poor Americans who's American dream is being stolen from them by a people our federal government is allowing to commit this crime? Don't you think it would be more appropriate to tax these remittances at a 50% or higher amount than a mere 20%?
Mexico received a total of $21.27 billion in remittances in 2010, which signifies a small increase of 0.12 percent over the year before, the country's central bank said Tuesday.
"This indicates that remittances barely managed to halt the decline that occurred in 2009 and their recovery has been slow. Remittances depend chiefly on employment in the United States, where the outlook continues to be complicated," a report by the Mexican bank Ixe said.
Remittances constitute the second largest source of foreign currency for Mexico after oil sales.
Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/money/2011/02/02/remittances-mexico-marginally/#ixzz1TWotglyS
Imagine that. Over 20 billion dollars stolen from us by illegals are sent out of our country where is was earned instead of going back into the economy that produced it. That in itself is a crime that needs to be prevented.