Text size:

Senate OKs U.S.-Mexico border fence

BY TOM BRUNE | Newsday Washington Bureau

September 30, 2006

WASHINGTON - The Senate approved a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border as the last major gesture on controlling illegal immigration before breaking for the Nov. 7 elections.

That measure and a few others were all that remained of the two ambitious but incompatible bills in the House and the Senate for overhauling immigration.

The Secure Fence Act requires the construction of a two-layered reinforced fencing along the border in areas with the most illegal crossings, as well as physical barriers, lighting, cameras and sensors elsewhere.

A separate homeland security spending bill, expected to be approved Saturday, includes a $1.2 billion down payment for the multibillion-dollar fence.

House GOP leaders sought to push many tough border enforcement measures, but were rebuffed by Senate Republicans who want to pass a broader bill that includes guest worker and citizenship provisions.

The only other measure to survive makes it a crime to tunnel under the border.

Frank Sharry of the pro-immigrant National Immigration Forum called the fence a political stunt to aid GOP campaigns.

"We will never see a 700-mile wall as called for by the Secure Fence Act," predicted Sharry, who said it was expensive and impractical.

"This is about incumbent protection, not border protection."

But Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), the fence act's original sponsor, said, "I believe the fence is extremely vital."

He said a 14-mile fence built a few years ago near San Diego led to a steep drop in crime there.

The Senate voted 80-19 to approve the bill, and it now goes to the president for his signature.

Meanwhile, a port security bill that would require radiation detectors in major U.S. ports by the end of 2007 and a homeland security spending bill permitting some regulation of high-risk chemical plants also were expected to pass.

Both measures - touted as breakthroughs by Republicans but criticized as insufficient by Democrats - had been pushed by King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Staff writer Carol Eisenberg contributed to this story.