By Joshua Daniel Hershfield, 10/3/06
As part of a week of oppressive legislation, including bills that legalize torture and indefinite detention and provide further funding for the war, the Senate has approved the plan for a 700 mile long fence, complete with electric shock wiring, guard towers, and search lights, costing $2-7 billion, running the length of the US-Mexican border.
Between the electric wire and armed guards, this is a death sentence for people trying to cross the boarder.
And on top of that it’s plain fascist tyrannical madness so would you all just hit the streets for crying out loud.
The proposed legislation allows the Department of Homeland Security to take charge over the fence in 18 months, gives additional powers to border security force agents, and calls for a “study” on the “need” for a similar fence along the US-Canada border. The Department of Homeland Security has already awarded a 3-year, $2billion contract to Boeing Corporation, to develop censors, cameras, and other military and surveillance equipment to use along the border.
As if the militaristic assault on immigrants isn’t enough, as well as the fact that a corporation will be profiting off all of this (as usual), this fence is also an attack on the biodiversity of the area. The borderland is home to many endangered species whose livelihoods depend on being able to cross their border habitat frequently. According to Micheal Finkelstein, executive director at the Tucson, Arizona based Center for Biological Diversity, “The only living things the walls won’t stop are people.”