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Continued from This Feature
Time says new fence goes up every week in Arizona and California but "No one seems able to keep track of it all." I will let Time in on a little secret; American Border Patrol has been keeping track of the border fence since January, 2007.
Time was right about the fence at Yuma, some of it is triple-layered, and it works. CBP helicopter pilot Gabriel Mourik told Time, "I used to catch 100 people in a day. Yesterday, it was just one."
Time says conditions in a 264-mile stretch in central Arizona are "less favorable" for the construction of a Yuma-style fence. Nonsense. Sure there are about 40 miles where the rough terrain would make it difficult, but, for the most part, the terrain in central Arizona is flat as pancake and a Yuma or San Diego-style fence could easily be built.
Army/Air National Guard helicopter pilot Billy Dart told Time that the Yuma fence had controlled much of the smuggling but that it has "probably just funneled the action our way." Time says that Lukeville, a port of entry in central Arizona is getting a double fence.
According to American Border Patrol, as of April 29, 2008, there was one mile of "double fencing" at Lukeville. But the double fencing was comprised of a short vehicle barrier just south of the new pedestrian barrier.
About the new fence at Lukeville, pilot Dart told Time, "As fast at they put it up, on the southern side they take plasma torches and cut holes." This is complete nonsense. In all of its aerial surveys, American Border Patrol reports seeing no evidence of actual holes in the new fence and only a couple crews repairing the fence along the 700 miles it surveys. Moreover, if the new fence at Yuma is pushing traffic toward Lukeville, why is it that they aren't cutting holes in the Yuma fence instead of making the long trip east?
Time says that drug smugglers use hydraulic ramps to get over vehicle barriers. More the reason to build more robust structures.
Time describes the vehicle barriers east of Nogales as "so-called Normandy barrier of crisscrossed railroad iron." This conjures up images of continuous steels Xs, but it shouldn't. In fact, the barriers east of Nogales consist of railroad rails suspended between those Xs, and there are many breaks.
Time says that a 28-mile stretch near Sasabe has "no fence at all." Wrong again. As of April 29, 2008, there were seven miles of pedestrian barrier and 14.4 miles of vehicle barrier in this 28-mile segment, also known as Project 28.
Had Time Magazine contacted American Border Patrol, they could have avoided making these serious blunders. But maybe they weren't blunders after all. Maybe they didn't want to talk to ABP because they didn't want the truth to get in the way of a good story.
In wrapping up its story, Time observes: "As long as (the difference in per capital income between Mexican and the U.S.) remains true, the border fence will be under extreme pressure. People will climb over it; they'll tunnel under it; they'll jack through it; they'll float around it."
Time Magazine's story on the border fence is a piece of propaganda aimed at convincing the American People that building the fence is futile. They will soon be joined by ABC TV, who will tell the American People what a great job the Department of Homeland Security is doing.
Soon, American Border Patrol will perform yet another aerial survey of the border. It will use this survey to produce a new video that tells the real truth about the border.
Make sure you see it and spread the word.Glenn Spencer
American Patrol
Please tell Time what you think
Go to story page and click on author's name- DAVID VON DREHLE
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