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Arizona’s Own Border Fence Facing Obstacles
After nearly two years of preparation, an Arizona state senator says a plan will be unveiled in a few weeks to build a fence along the border with Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants.
State Sen. Steve Smith, a Republican, said the plan will be disclosed after a legal review is complete. “We have a strategy in place. We have a contractor in place. We have a provider in place,” he said.
The idea is to plug the gaps that Smith and other Arizona officials see with the federal government’s border fence along the state’s 370-mile border with Mexico. Private donors have given $275,000 for the effort, most of it in the first few months the fund was set up.
Since then, donations have slowed to a trickle, and the money — except what was needed to pay for office supplies and a website — is still sitting in the state treasury.
In the meantime, border security has become a major point of contention in Washington, as Congress works on an overhaul of its immigration laws. Some Republicans want to include a “trigger” that would let immigrants become citizens only after the border is declared secure.
Published in Latino Daily News
2013-04-03 15:01:53
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