Illegal immigration to the United States / United States should build a fence along Mexican border

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Position: United States should build a fence along Mexican border

This position addresses the topic Illegal immigration to the United States.


For this position


Quotes-start.png "The argument against the fence is, as Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano has put it, “You show me a 50-foot wall, and I’ll show you a 51-foot ladder at the border.” This is true, and also beside the point. If illegals have to deploy 51-foot ladders to get here, their transit manifestly is going to be more difficult, and therefore fewer will attempt it." Quotes-end.png
From We're All Neanderthals Now, by Rich Lowry (National Review, September 22, 2006) (view)
Quotes-start.png "The public has seen the consequences of Washington’s failure. It knows that any sensible and sustainable immigration policy must begin with securing our borders. It has demanded that the nation’s politicians provide just that." Quotes-end.png
From November on the Border, by National Review editorial board (National Review, September 21, 2006) (view)
Quotes-start.png "It is, nevertheless, both an important step in securing the border and the most politically important piece of legislation for Republicans during this midterm election season. Not only will the law rally conservatives, but in fact 60 percent to 70 percent of the total electorate will approve of these measures." Quotes-end.png
From (A few) Good measures, by The Washington Times editorial board (The Washington Times, October 2, 2006) (view)
Quotes-start.png "Instead of “comprehensive” reform, Bush should choose a second option: consecutive reform. During this debate, both the comprehensivists and their opponents have stressed the critical need to control the border and to give employers a reliable system to verify the legal status of their workers. There is no reason that either imperative should wait on resolution of the amnesty or guest-worker questions." Quotes-end.png
From Out of the Shadows, by National Review editorial board (National Review, June 8, 2007) (view)
Quotes-start.png "A fence announces to the world that America is closed to . . . illegal immigrants. What's wrong with that? Is not every country in the world the same? The only reason others don't need such a barrier is that they are not half as attractive as America, not because we are more oppressive or less welcoming. Fences are ugly, I grant you that. But not as ugly as 12 million people living in the shadows in a country that has forfeited control of its borders." Quotes-end.png
From Good Fences, by Charles Krauthammer (The Washington Post, June 15, 2007) (view)
Quotes-start.png "Forget employer sanctions. Build a barrier. It is simply ridiculous to say it cannot be done. If one fence won't do it, then build a second 100 yards behind it. And then build a road for patrols in between." Quotes-end.png
From First a Wall -- Then Amnesty, by Charles Krauthammer (The Washington Post, April 7, 2006) (view)

Against this position


Quotes-start.png "Right now across America, fruit is rotting on the ground because the crackdown along the border has created a shortage of immigrant workers needed for the harvest. Nevertheless, it is impossible to ignore stories of poor American workers who believe that their livelihoods were undermined by immigrants willing to work for below-subsistence wages, and of honest employers who could not compete with unscrupulous competitors using undocumented workers." Quotes-end.png
From Looking Over the Wall, by The New York Times editorial board (The New York Times, October 9, 2006) (view)
Quotes-start.png "Instead of making their way through urban areas, undocumented foreigners have eluded capture by trekking across remote deserts and mountains, paying human smugglers to shepherd them into the United States. Instead of snaring more illegal entrants, we're now arresting fewer." Quotes-end.png
From A border solution that's chock-full of holes, by Steve Chapman (Chicago Tribune, October 8, 2006) (view)
Quotes-start.png "And just as the Great Wall of China did not prevent Mongols in the 13th century and Manchurians in the 17 century from invading and conquering China, Hunter’s proposed fence would not prevent the hoards of illegal aliens from crossing the border into the United States in search of a better life." Quotes-end.png
From Border-fence plan an $8 billion folly, by Reading Eagle editorial board (Reading Eagle, November 13, 2005) (view)
Quotes-start.png "But the most efficient way to address these concerns is by making it easier for illegals to function in the light of day, where they would have every reason to pay all the taxes the rest of us do. And to enter the country through official checkpoints (and to leave the country through the same gates)." Quotes-end.png
From Bush's Border Buffoonery, by Nick Gillespie (Reason, May 16, 2006) (view)

Mixed on this position


Quotes-start.png "That said, is massive border fencing in America's interest? Would it succeed in quelling illegal immigration? How would it affect the estimated 10-12 million illegal aliens already here? Would it help us conclusively resolve the fight over "amnesty"? We've yet to see a substantive discussion of these questions, so charged have been the verbal histrionics on both sides." Quotes-end.png
From The Not-So-Great Wall, by Duncan Currie (The Weekly Standard, May 24, 2006) (view)