Editorial: Holes in the plan

Friday, Sept. 21, 2007 | 7:08 a.m.

Congress approved $1.2 billion last year to start building a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, but it still isn't clear how much the entire barrier is going to cost to finish or maintain.

A story by USA Today on Monday notes that repairs are a constant along an existing 75 miles of border fence outside of San Diego, because people trying to enter the country illegally use saws and blow torches to repeatedly cut holes in the barrier.

President Bush and other supporters of a similar two-layer fence that is to be built along one-third of the 2,100-mile border between the United States and Mexico have estimated that the barrier will cost $1.2 million to $1.3 million per mile, but those figures don't include ongoing repair and maintenance costs.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that building, repairing and maintaining such a fence will cost $16.4 million to $70 million per mile over the next 25 years.

Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told USA Today that supporters have "no appreciation for a fence that is constantly under stress," and that the cost projections have failed to plan for maintenance.

Congress should get a better idea of what this border barrier is going to cost in the long term and plan adequately for it. But this issue is about more than unrealistic cost estimates, and no one should delude himself into thinking that this fence is a panacea. A fence obviously isn't viable as the only method of controlling illegal immigration - people who desperately want to get into this country will find ways to do so, no matter how seemingly impenetrable the barrier.

A fence is merely a tool that must be supplemented by increasing the Border Patrol's ranks and, more importantly, reinforced by a comprehensive and fair immigration policy that brings immigrants here in a legal and controlled manner.