US Border Controls Need Right Balance Between Doing Nothing and Going Too Far Enterprise
go to original December 25, 2012

A marker on the road signifies the border line between the United States and Mexico at the border crossing in San Ysidro, California. (Reuters/Mike Blake)

Illegal immigration is by definition a violation of U.S. law. It shouldn't be tolerated - period. Yet many property owners along the U.S.-Mexican border are understandably uneasy over proposals in Congress to give the Border Patrol authority to build roads, camera towers, helicopter pads and living quarters with little oversight.

Plans like that can dramatically change the character and ecology of the border without necessarily reducing the overall amount of illegal immigration. After all, would-be border-crossers invariably follow the path of least resistance.

At issue is a bill approved by the U.S. House that would allow the Border Patrol to waive environmental reviews on federal lands within 100 miles of Mexico. There's little chance the Democratic-controlled Senate will approve the sweeping bill, but the proposal has advanced farther in the legislative process than ever after being talked about for years.

As usual, Congress needs the right balance between doing nothing and going too far.

In some cases, the Border Control needs better access to federal lands that have become high-traffic routes for illegal immigrants. Yet in other areas it wouldn't do much good to spend any more money. As one U.S. rancher put it, the Border Patrol already has 37 miles of roads on his lands, so "Why do you need new ones?"

The Border Patrol needs flexibility to go to hot spots - with as light a footprint as possible. Illegal immigration has actually declined for the first time in years. That's a welcome trend, and it underscores questions about building elaborate safeguards on one stretch of border that can easily be bypassed a few miles away.

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