Homeland Security has been reduced to buzzword status, and Governor Rick Perry’s ideas for a larger border security budget make for a sick joke. Securing the people of The United States by adding protective measures along the country’s border with Mexico seems logical. Stop the problem before it reaches American soil. That is simply brilliant. In pursuit of making Texas a safer state, Perry has signed a bill increasing the border security budget; the extra money is additional state funding beyond the more than $100 million dollars dedicated to Texas Homeland Security. According to an article by Lynn Brezosky of the Austin American Statesman (http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/06/07/7border.html), the supplementary funding will pay for “a Border Security Council appointed by the governor to assist in allocating homeland security money, establishes a system for mutual aid during emergencies and expands law enforcement agencies' ability to use wiretapping.” This strategy would seem like an effective measure if the agenda in Texas did not also include a 1,200 foot hole in its border with Mexico.
This gap in the Texas-Mexico border will come in the form of a quarter-mile wide superhighway, known in Texas as the Trans-Texas Corridor. It would connect the landlocked cities in central Mexico, through Texas, and eventually to a hub in Kansas City. Hypocritically enough, proposals exist that would allow illegal immigrants to travel into Kansas City, apparently promoting trade. Trade goods, such as drugs and people, are sure to be some of the more lucrative sellers. Furthermore, this highway is a poor solution to anyone sinking more money into Homeland Security issues in Texas. In addition to the highway, the Trans-Texas Corridor will also include railcars, oil, gas, and water pipelines; the costs of protecting this enormous project would be staggering, if not impossible. Border security and the Trans-Texas Corridor existing simultaneously is a joke, and Texas cannot support both.
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2 comments:
Solid work. Do you propose stopping all commerce between the U.S. and Mexico or is sarcasm in play? Would the highway(s) be ok if there were SERIOUS checks at the border?
Halting all commerce between the United States and Mexico would be detrimental, but this post is a bit facetious, too. If border checks were as serious as an all capitolized spelling would suggest, it would be a worthy investment; however, such extensive security seems impossible.
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