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Hillary Clinton Comes Out for Border Wall
Responding to polls showing that a strong majority of Americans support building a wall across the U.S.-Mexican border, 2008 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton announced Saturday that she backs a border wall plan that would include both physical barriers and a "smart fence." "A physical structure is obviously important," Mrs. Clinton told the New York Daily News. "A wall in certain areas would be appropriate." The News said she also supported deploying a high-tech "smart fence" that could spot people approaching from 200 or 300 yards. Clinton said the deployment of surveillance drones and infrared cameras should be considered as well. A Time magazine poll released two weeks ago showed that 56 percent of Americans supported building a wall along the entire 2,000 mile U.S.-Mexican border - with only 40 percent opposed.
Story Continues Below Still, most immigration reform plans currently being considered by Congress make no mention of a wall. Mrs. Clinton's previous proposals on illegal immigration, detailed extensively on her Senate web site, also ignored the issue. The former first lady said she welcomed tougher immigration enforcement against employers who hire illegal immigrants. She blasted a planned pro-illegal immigration work and school boycott set for May 1 as a bad idea. Mrs. Clinton said she favored a carrot and stick approach - with a plan that would first seal the borders followed a year or two later by a legalization process for the 11 million illegal aliens already here. The top Democrat told the News that she backs citizenship rather than amnesty for illegal immigrants, as long as it's "earned." But her new get-tough rhetoric on the border wall angered illegal immigration advocates, who were under the impression she was in their corner. "To see the senator from New York, which is clearly an immigrant state, take a position that harsh is not the real solution," Gouri Sadhwani, executive director of the New York Civic Participation Project and La Fuente, told the News. "The flow of undocumented immigrants into our country will not be stopped by putting up a fence along the Mexican border," he added. Clinton's repositioning on border enforcement moves her significantly to the right of President Bush on the issue - and places her in agreement with conservative 2008 presidential hopeful, Sen. George Allen, who came out for a partial border fence two weeks ago. Despite her new tough tone, Clinton's record on illegal immigration has been inconsistent over the years. In 2003, for instance, she proclaimed: "I am adamantly against illegal immigrants," saying the U.S. should consider implementing a national ID card to beef up border enforcement. But in 2005 she voted against a Senate bill that would have expanded illegal immigration detention centers and funded the hiring of new border patrol agents. Last month, Clinton condemned a House plan that racheted up penalties against illegals and included the construction of a border fence, saying it would "criminalize even Jesus himself."
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Homeland/Civil Defense
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