WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Experts have criticized a U.S. government plan to erect 700 miles of fencing along the Mexican border, saying it ignores the varied geography of the land.
Critics of the plan, including land managers, businesspeople, law enforcement officials, environmentalists and U.S. Border Patrol agents, have also complained the plan fails to take in to account the legal and logistical difficulties brought to light by the federal government's failure to finish a 14-mile fence between San Diego and Tijuana, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
The planned 15-foot-high double fence fails to compensate for the different types of areas it is planned for, including cities separated by sidewalk, scrubland, deserts, rivers, irrigation canals and miles of mountainous terrain, the critics say.
Some have also raised fears that the border would be costly to maintain.
"This is the feel-good approach to immigration control," said Wayne Cornelius, an expert on immigration issues at the University of California at San Diego. "The only pain is experienced by the migrants themselves. It doesn't hurt U.S. consumers; it doesn't hurt U.S. businesses. It only hurts taxpayers if they pay attention to spending on border enforcement."
