Text size:

Bush at the border

Appearance at stretch of fence at Mexico-Arizona line gives support to barrier as immigration control

BY CRAIG GORDON | Newsday Washington Bureau

May 19, 2006

YUMA, Ariz. - President George W. Bush took his immigration sales pitch to this dusty desert outpost on the Mexican border yesterday, visiting a rare patch of border fence to signal fresh support for building more anti-immigrant barriers.

Bush stopped short of endorsing any specific fence proposal, even though his spokesman said earlier that the White House supports a Senate plan approved Wednesday for 370 miles of triple-layered border fence.

But Bush used an appearance here to give new prominence to the idea - one he has resisted in the past - as he struggled to win over Republican hard-liners to the first major immigration overhaul in 20 years.

"It makes sense to use fencing here," Bush said on Fox News Channel. "It doesn't make sense to use fencing in other parts of the border. And the best people to help us design the program are those who are in charge of enforcing the border."

Asked how many miles of fence he'd like to see built, Bush said, "Whatever works."

Bush visited the Border Patrol's Yuma station, responsible for a roughly 65-mile stretch of Arizona desert. White House officials said the spot was chosen in part to demonstrate how Border Patrol agents are backed by National Guard troops and employ high-tech surveillance gear, two key parts of Bush's immigration proposal Monday night.

But if Bush intended to emphasize how more troops, cameras and sensors can help, he perhaps picked an unusual location.

Despite the Border Patrol's using both those measures, more illegal immigrants cross here than anywhere in the nation. More than 96,000 people have been arrested here since last fall, up from 86,000 a year ago. But many more get through, authorities say, so many that they have turned Yuma into something of a border boomtown, with half the population Hispanic.

Just across the border, criminal gangs operate to ferry across illegal immigrants. But the unforgiving territory also exacts its toll, with 17 dead around the Yuma sector so far this year.

And Yuma has the fence, barely a few months old - though to be sure, the nearly 7-mile fence covers barely one-tenth of its overall territory.

The double-layer structure consists of a primary fence of corrugated metal about 20 feet high, then a 150-foot buffer, and then a second 8-foot-high chain-link fence topped with concertina wire. Bush went to the top of a berm near the fence to gaze into Mexico, then tooled around in a two-seater dune buggy.

Border Patrol agents here say they used to have large groups, 70 or 80 strong, try to cross, but that fencing and added surveillance have cut down on that.

Yet Yuma also provides a cautionary tale about the difficulties of trying to secure only part of the 2,000-mile-long U.S.-Mexico border. One reason it's the busiest crossing now is because of new fences and other tougher enforcement measures added near cities to the east, authorities said.

Bush mentioned fences in his Monday address to the nation as part of a laundry list of new high-tech initiatives he wants to see, including more surveillance, unmanned aerial vehicles and other sensors. In the past, he opposed a House plan for a 700-mile-long fence.

But fences have long been a favored idea of some immigration hard-liners, and the White House appeared eager to add them to the mix yesterday, particularly after Bush's hoped-for blockbuster, sending 6,000 National Guard troops to the border, has landed with a thud.

Bush also rejected the idea that racism was a factor in calls for a tough law-and-order approach on the border. "I do believe citizens have got legitimate concerns, realizing that parts of this border have been open for anybody who wants to come across," he said. "And we've got to stop that. "

Meanwhile yesterday, the Senate voted to make English the "national language" of the United States as part of legislation overhauling immigration policy, a provision sought by conservatives. The measure, approved 63-34, directs the government to "preserve and enhance" the role of English, but does not change laws that require that some government documents and services be provided in other languages.

U.S. border fence

The 2,000 mile stretch is divided into nine border-patrol sectors.

Border sectors

San Diego

El Centro

Yuma

Tucson

El Passo

Marfa

Del Rio

Laredo

McAllen

SOURCE: U.S. Customs and Border Protection