posted October 26, 2006 02:20 PM            

By DEB RIECHMANN

(WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush signed a bill Thursday authorizing 700 miles of new fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, hoping to give Republican candidates a pre-election platform for asserting they're tough on illegal immigration.

"Unfortunately the United States has not been in complete control of its borders for decades and therefore illegal immigration has been on the rise," Bush said at a signing ceremony.

"We have a responsibility to enforce our laws," he said. "We have a responsibility to secure our borders. We take this responsibility serious."

He called the fence bill "an important step in our nation's efforts to secure our borders."

The centerpiece of Bush's immigration policy, a guest worker program, remains stalled in Congress.

And a handful of House Republican are at the brakes, blocking negotiations with the Senate for a bill that includes the president's proposal.

Still, Bush argues that it would be easier to get his guest worker program passed if Republicans keep their majorities in the House and Senate after the Nov. 7 elections. His proposal would allow legal employment for foreigners and give some of the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States a shot at becoming American citizens.

The measure Bush put into law Thursday before heading for campaign stops in Iowa and Michigan offers no money for the fence project covering one-third of the 2,100-mile border.

Its cost is not known, although a homeland security spending measure the president signed earlier this month makes a $1.2 billion down payment on the project. The money also can be used for access roads, vehicle barriers, lighting, high-tech equipment and other tools to secure the border.

Mexican officials have criticized the fence. Outgoing Mexican President Vicente Fox, who has spent much of his six years in office lobbying for a new guest worker program and a chance at citizenship for the millions of Mexicans working illegally in the U.S., calls the fence "shameful" and compares it to the Berlin Wall.

Others have doubts about its effectiveness.

"A fence will slow people down by a minute or two, but if you don't have the agents to stop them it does no good. We're not talking about some impenetrable barrier," T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing Border Patrol agents, said Wednesday.

Customs and Border Protection statistics show that apprehensions at border crossings are down 8 percent nationally for the budget year that just ended, Bonner said. Apprehensions were up in the San Diego sector, he said, an area of the nearly 2,000-mile border that has the most fencing.

A spokesman for Customs and Border Protection would not confirm the statistics or discuss reasons for the increase in the San Diego sector.

Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, both Texas Republicans, had wanted to amend the fence bill to give local governments more say about where fencing is erected. They lost that battle, but Republican leaders assured them the Homeland Security Department would have flexibility to choose other options instead of fencing, if needed.

Cornyn said he voted for the fence because he wanted to help demonstrate that Congress was serious about border security.

"The choice we were presented was: Are we going to vote to enhance border security, or against it?" Cornyn said. "I think that's how the vote was viewed."

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Associated Press Writer Suzanne Gamboa contributed to this report.

posted October 26, 2006 02:21 PM            

Naco asks the county for help

By Shar Porier

Herald/Review

BISBEE — With a growing sense of fear over possible gang crime in Naco, officials, residents and members of the Naco Community Association asked for help from the Cochise County Board of Supervisors in a work session held Tuesday afternoon.

The work session was the result of requests made by Supervisor Paul Newman, who represents the small border town. He asked that the board come up with a plan of action to address several issues in the Naco community, including crime, gang activity, speeding and alley clean-up.

Deputies from the county sheriff’s office said there was a lack of manpower countywide. Twelve positions in the department had been vacated and remain unfilled. Five of those are in the Bisbee/Naco district. They indicated it was difficult, at best, to keep an eye on Naco with a small force covering such a large county.

There were reports of a family’s involvement with certain crimes, possibly even arson. Since this family allegedly uses intimidation against those who would speak up, crimes in Naco have been difficult at best to solve.

Naco Fire Department members said their fire trucks were damaged if they offered any assistance to authorities. It was said bottles with gasoline in them had been found in grassy areas of town and that 28 fires had occurred so far this year.

The deputies offered to look into setting up a mulit-agency anti-gang task force like the one in Douglas.

Residents asked that something be done to enforce the curfew for adolescents who were walking the streets in early morning hours.

The sheriff’s office is preparing a plan to bring to the board, though what the plan entails was not discussed.

The board heard that traffic problems around the school and speeding down certain streets of the unincorporated area were creating hazards. It was suggested that temporary speed bumps be placed on certain streets to slow drivers down.

Scott Dalrymple, from the highway and floodplain office, said a study would be done before laying the speed bumps so that a comparison of before and after rates of speed could be made.

The entire Naco area was to be repaved next year, Dalrymple said. He suggested the town decide where crosswalks and speed bumps needed to go.

“It takes 45 days to study the impact of the speed bumps.” Supervisor Pat Call said. “We do the speed studies to see if people slow down. Then they come out. In some cases, the study shows they aren’t needed.”

Newman also asked the board if something could be done about the cluttered alleys in town.

Board member Richard Searle said the county could not clean up private property, since many of the alleys had been abandoned.

The Board of Supervisors plans to meet again with Naco community members.

posted October 26, 2006 11:48 PM            

Petron posted some information some time ago about an organization which I started reading up on involving a super highway connecting ports in the south of Mexico to Canada running through Texas and the Midwest.

I don't remember all the details Petron posted and I initially dismissed it but apparently there is more than a little concern that there's a plan to merge the United States, Mexico and Canada into a North American Union. I'm not dismissing it now.

From what I've read, this plan would be in opposition to strengthened borders or immigration control, bigtime.

We've had a conversation about the reluctance Bush has shown about border security before. Perhaps the Security and Prosperity Partnership is the reason for the reluctance.

THE NEW WORLD DISORDER
'North American Union' major '08 issue?
Coalition mobilizes grass roots, targets Washington lawmakers http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52621

Documents reveal 'shadow government'
Freedom of Information request puts 1,000 new pages online
Posted: October 24, 2006 http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52576

FOIA Documents relating to SPP...Security and Prosperity Partnership http://stopspp.com/stopspp/?page_id=11

I wrote my congressman, Bill Young about SPP and the super highway project and he lied through his teeth in his response....if any of this information is true. It appears to be true and the plan seems very far advanced to have flown under the radar for so long.