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Mexico's Calderon: Border Fence a 'Grave Mistake' NewsMax.com Wires WASHINGTON -- President Bush signed election-year legislation Thursday to build 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexican border to combat illegal immigration, prompting a strong protest from Mexico.
Republicans hoped the legislation would give them a boost as they try to head off a strong Democratic attempt to take control of the U.S. Congress in Nov. 7 elections.
"We have a responsibility to secure our borders. We take this responsibility seriously," Bush said in a signing ceremony at the White House.
But Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderon said in Ottawa after meeting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper that he deplored the move because "the fence doesn't resolve anything" and will cause more Mexican deaths on the border.
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"Humanity committed a grave mistake in building the Berlin Wall. I'm sure that the United States is committing a grave mistake in building this fence," Calderon said.
Bush had long opposed supporting a bill that was limited to border enforcement, spending months in a failed attempt to persuade Congress to back a comprehensive measure that would include a guest-worker program for illegal immigrants.
The Senate had approved a measure he preferred, but Republicans in charge of the House insisted on border enforcement only, feeling election-year heat from Americans upset about the impact of illegal immigration in their states.
Democrats called the legislation a political stunt, said it risked straining relations with Mexico and accused Republicans of lax border enforcement.
"This bill to build a fence is a bumper-sticker solution that Republicans hope will provide cover for their stunning failure to produce comprehensive immigration reform," said Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy.
In Lukeville, Arizona, a border town at the heart of a busy human and drug trafficking corridor, residents disagreed over whether a fence should replace the vehicle barrier that now separates them from Sonora state in Mexico.
"Let them build it," resident Beatriz Trevino said. "The drug and people smugglers drive across the border night and day, and we have to do something about it."
But Lukeville property owner Alfred Gay said the fence was a bad idea.
"The Berlin Wall and the Great Wall of China didn't do any good, nor will this. The illegal aliens will go over it, through it or under it. It's just a waste of money," Gay told Reuters. "It will also ruin our relationship with our Mexican neighbors."
In his remarks, Bush insisted a guest-worker program would ease pressure along the border, and said Americans must face the reality that millions of illegal immigrants already live in the United States.
He renewed his appeal for a guest-worker program.
"We must reduce pressure on our border by creating a temporary worker plan," Bush said.
The 700 miles of fencing would run along parts of four southwestern states, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The U.S.-Mexican border runs about 2,000 miles.
(c) Reuters 2006. All rights reserved.
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