Claire and the Big Fence

Claire McCaskill is promoting the border fence, according to the San Antonio Express-News. I'm amazed that this insane solution is still carries weight.

Of course, immigration creates problems - mostly only in the minds of the citizens. It always has and the country has always wound up accepting the immigrants and, in the end, benefitting from their contributions.

But building a fence or a wall will never work. Throughout history nations have tried and failed to build fences on their artificial borders. Fences work for cattle and other animals. They do not work for people. The immigrants are intelligent, ambitious people that want to come to the US to make better lives for themselves and their families. A fence won't stop them.

If you want to address illegal aliens, penalize their employers. It's just that simple. Enforce the existing laws and the jobs that beckon the immigrants and illegal immigration will dry up. Without this incentive of immediate cash, the immigrants will soon learn that the only way to come to this country will be via legal channels. Save the money on the building of this insane fence and use it on a more efficient immigration process. And, I'm betting that the jobs currently filled with illegal labor will be taken by the same population once they've passed through immigration putting an end to that jingo-redneck argument, "Them illegals is stealing my job!"

Fences only build anger and resentment. Whether you're trying to split a population as Isreal is currently doing or you're trying to enforce political boundaries as the communist countries of eastern Europe did, you're bound to fail. The anger builds pressure behind the wall until it pops like a champagne cork. It's impossible to predict how this will happen but it will. A border fence will only prove to be an expensive failure - expensive in the building, yes, but even more costly in the ramifications later.