Study: Price for border fence up to $49 billion (Lawmakers' estimate falls far short of total)

[sabra]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/08/BAG6RNEJJG1.DTL


Study: Price for border fence up to $49 billion
Lawmakers' estimate falls far short of total, research service says


The cost of building and maintaining a double set of steel fences along 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border could be five to 25 times greater than congressional leaders forecast last year, or as much as $49 billion over the expected 25-year life span of the fence, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.

A little-noticed study the research service released in December notes that even the $49 billion does not include the expense of acquiring private land along hundreds of miles of border or the cost of labor if the job is done by private contractors -- both of which could drive the price billions of dollars higher.

The Congressional Research Service also questioned the effectiveness of a fence in preventing people from crossing the border illegally, especially if it does not span the entire 1,952-mile border. Secure fencing of some kind already exists along 106 miles of border, mostly in short stretches around cities.

The findings did not deter Congressional backers of the border fence, including Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-San Diego, the fence's principal proponent.

"Mr. Hunter firmly supports expanding the San Diego border fence across the U.S.-Mexico border," said spokesman Joe Kasper. "This doesn't have to be and should not be as costly an endeavor as some are suggesting."

[liberal N proud]

1. The price went up after the company building was busted for illegal workers

[gratuitous]

2. Won't work, will take years to implement and cost five times as much

But Duncan Hunter just looooves it! Doesn't have to be that costly says his mouthpiece. After all, a velvet rope and a really menacing bouncer with a clipboard should do it, right Mr. Kasper?

And the expected life span of Hunter's Berlin Wall is 25 years. By then, we shouldn't have any more immigration problem, as far as Republicans are concerned. There surely won't be any economic incentive for crossing the border: Everyone will be paid shit wages and have to work under hazardous conditions.

Another GOP success that hasn't happened yet.

[Demit]

4. LOL, great post! Love the velvet rope/menacing bouncer idea.

But the best tragicomic truth in it is your observation that in 25 years there won't be any economic incentive for immigrants to come here because we'll all be paid slave wages. Sadly, I think that's what Republicans see as their triumphant, ultimate solution.

[EFerrari]

9. Someone please Hunter with a page so we can be rid of him. n/t

[lvasconcellos]

3. Sad to say Duncan (the fence)Hunter

is my representative. And he actually thinks he's a viable GOP candidate???!!! Maybe he's just raising funds to add to all the kickbacks he took from the defense industry so he can have a cushy retirement. Dude, give it up!
Yes, he's the same one who went to Guantanamo and reported back that the "chicken-al-orange" was tasty and the same one who tried to slip into a bill a provision to cut funding to the group that's investigating fraud in Iraq. Very smooth Mr. Fence!!

[EFerrari]

10. He also went purple in the face when it was suggested that torture

at Abu Ghraib was happening.

A real piece of work.

[driver8]

5. 49 Billion?? Who is building this fence...Haliburton??

How many Border Patrol agents could be employed for that much money?

This country has gone fucking crazy!!

[Thor_MN]

6. $6.6K per lineal foot?

For freaking chain link fencing? Damn, you can get the materials for a lot less at Home Depot and there's tons of installers waiting right outside the door....

[Solon]

7. Stupid idea, not surprising that it would cost a LOT more...

than predicted. The fence is impractical, and, simply put, one of the dumbest ideas to come out of ANYONE'S mind in the past half century. A simple fence, chain linked or otherwise, could be defeated with a 25 dollar pair of wire cutters. In addition to this, you would have to build guard towers behind the fence, at least 20 feet high, assuming the fence is about 8 feet high. Each tower must be no more than about 300 to about 800 meters from each other, to be within both line of sight and weapons range, to create overlapping arcs. This means, on 1,952 mile(3,141km) stretch, you would have about 10 THOUSAND towers, now, imagine just 3 folks per tower, the absolute lowest amount, one person per 8 hour shift, that's 30,000 tower guards. This doesn't even include free range border guards, maintenance workers, etc.

Let's say you decide to go high tech, instead of using guard towers, or border guards at all. First, you would need to detect border crossers, this can be accomplished though seismometers, to "hear" footsteps, however, can be prone to error, due to animal activity. Other methods include using infrared sensors, but, same problem, especially with larger animals. Not to mention the amount of money needed to buy this equipment and then maintain it.

The next step is deterrent, to provide obstacles so border crossers can't pass the barrier, I use barrier, because to be honest, a fence, even with razorwire on top, can be defeated with, as I said, wire cutters, or, if somewhat desperate, a heavy jacket thrown over the razorwire as you climb over. Now, an obvious solution would be to electrify the fence, this, I believe, is dumb. You would have to divide the fence up into discrete circuits, sections that are electrified, not to mention providing the juice, 24/7. These sections can be easily shorted out when a wayward animal, or, more likely, several of them, end up running into the fence, this will create problems till the animals learn to avoid it.

A more practical idea is to go the Berlin Wall route, where you have several thousand guards, all given orders to shoot to kill EVERYONE attempting to cross the border. Make a doubled up, concrete, wall, with razor wire up top, and land mines littering the empty section between the walls. Best to put a ditch in front of the wall, to prevent certain heavy vehicles from crashing through.

Such a wall, if built, would pretty much dwarf all major human projects in human history, except the Great Wall, at least, and that wall didn't slow down the Mongols, did it? Hell, it didn't do anything, not really, border towns in China traded and crossed the borders with their Mongol neighbors for centuries after the walls were combined into one and vice versa. Not to mention cost, if the Iraq war doesn't bankrupt us, THIS would. Even the United States doesn't have the money or industrial capacity to build such a barrier.

[roody]

8. Good. That will provide employment for

many immigrant workers.

[EFerrari]

11. Does anyone really think this wall is anything more than a boondoggle?

Anyone?!

You know, you can't wall out hunger. Especially the hunger of the neighbors whose democratic elections you keep f8cking over.

No matter how much we pay for this fence, it has nothing to do with solving this problem of hungry people trying to live. Nothing.

[w4rma]

12. It's another failed GOP idea. Don't stand in their way when they are screwing up.

Let them own this boondoggle, totally.

[Jacobin]

13. $7 million per MILE?

Thats about the cost of building an interstate highway on flat ground, no?

WTF?

:eyes:

This country is so utterly corrupt that we don't have much longer. That much is clear.