Article Analysis
Border Fence Many Americans believe the Southwest Border fence is not effective. More than 49 billion dollars of tax payer money has been dedicated towards building the fence. The border fence has impacted many property owners in Texas, the environment, Indian reservations and American’s pockets. There have many articles written about the border fence and many provide great information that contain statistics and opinions on those who favor or oppose the border fence. Randal C. Archibold reporting from Naco, Arizona and Julia Preston from New York both collaborated to write “Homeland Security Stands by Its Fence” for the New York Times in May 2008. The article is based on Americans for and against the border fence. The article states that some opposing sides to include some Texas mayors, county commissioners and economists also known as the Texas Border Coalition have gone as far as filing a federal lawsuit. The lawsuit states that homeland security’s secretary failed to propose ideas and/or negotiate with Texas property owners, when he scheduled the border fence’s upbringing. Another law suit was filed by the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife. These two groups backed up by fourteen United States representatives who all happen to be Democrats, to include the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that challenges their waiver on waving more than two dozen environmental laws. Another opposing group is the University of Texas campus in Brownsville, TX. By building the border fence this would leave the technology campus on the Mexican side, posing many threats towards students. Individuals favoring the border fence state that they have seen a decrease of illegal immigrants crossing but know that the number of crossings will pick up again once illegal immigrants find other path to cross over. Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar claims the border fence is effective because in 2008 border crossings dropped 20 percent from 2007. Chief Aguilar also mentions that the border fence is more effective when backed by Border Patrol Officers. Overall this article does not lean towards and opposing or favoring side. The article mentions immigrant traffic decreasing due to politics and economic factors. A good example provided is when the economy dropped, it took out many construction jobs and other jobs that immigrants usually took. The authors mentioned that the Indian reservations were also affected. Texas border city officials along with Indian groups and education institutes have protested and criticized the border fence. They feel that the 2.1 billion used for construction could be used differently and for better purposes. In 2008 Custom and Border Patrol’s (CBP) goal was to finish 670 miles of the border fence by the end of the year. In 2008 Boeing was hired to build a 28 mile long electronic prototype fence. Although the fence suffered technical glitches it delayed the electronic fence to grown any further. The Department of Homeland Security in 2008 gave a broad estimate of $3 million per mile to build the fence or $2.1 billion to reach the goal at the end of year. More over the Department of Homeland Security would not give congress an exact number because the cost of the fence varies when dealing with different levels of terrain along the border. Described in the article is also the decreased number of apprehensions since the border fence project began. The Border Patrol Sector in Yuma, Arizona reported an estimated 69 percent drop of apprehensions in 2008.The authors provided a monotone article but included a great number of stats and opinions from not only law enforcement but by those affected by the border fence.
Frank Clifford wrote an article for The American Prospect called “The Border Effect”. The article starts off with the death of a young illegal immigrant girl who went by the name of Josseline Jamileath Hernandez-Quinteroz. Her body was
