Speech #1090179443

We also cant forget the annual maintenance costs. which could be as high as $1 billion a year. Never mind that fences dont work. Undocumented immigrant entries have increased tenfold since the strategy of fencing was introduced in the mid1990s. Since that time. the probability of apprehending an unauthorized border crosser fell from 20 percent to 5 percent. The United States now spends $1700 per border apprehension. up from $300 in 1992. San Diegos wall has been a boon for the smuggling industry. and increased the loss of immigrant lives by shifting entry to the desert. Never mind that fencing will do nothing to stop the 4050 percent of the people currently in the United States who entered the country with legal visas and have now overstayed their visas. Never mind that fences wont keep out criminals or terrorists. The 9/11 terrorists didnt come across the Mexican border illegallythey entered the U.S. with visas. Never mind that fences wont stop immigrants from coming here to work. As Governor Napolitano of Arizona recently said: You show me a 50foot wall and Ill show you a 51foot ladder at the border to get over it. Narrow. shortsighted. enforcementonly proposals like a fence will never fix our broken immigration system. We should listen to Tom Ridge. former Secretary of Homeland Security. who recently said: Trying to gain operational control of the borders Is impossible unless our enhanced enforcement efforts are coupled with a robust Temporary Guest Worker program and a means to entice those now working illegally out of the shadows into some type of legal status. A group of former highranking government officials has said unequivocally: The reality is that stronger enforcement and a more sensible approach to the 1012 million illegal aliens in the country today are inextricably interrelated. One cannot succeed without the other. President Bush agreed. In May. he got it right when he declared: An immigration reform bill needs to be comprehensive because all elements of this problem must be addressed together. or none of them will be solved at all. What the Republican leadership doesnt seem to get. is that comprehensive immigration reform is all about security: Homeland security. economic security. family security. That is what the vast majority of our people want. They want realistic solutions that effectively protect our Nation.