Fixing the border is a nonstop job by Delia Cruceru

In El Paso, Texas, the Border Patrol welding team has to work all the time to fix the holes from a 12-mile border fence made by illegal immigrants from Mexico. Every day it's the same task, they have to fix the fence daily. "It's disheartening," said Eddie Lujan, a Border Patrol agent. "It's frustrating." The U.S. Congress has authorized $1.2 billion for about 700 miles of fencing, including about 330 miles of a so-called virtual fence â€" a network of cameras, high-tech sensors, radar and other technology, the remaining 370 miles from urban areas will have a two layers fence. But agents from the Border Patrol think that nothing is going to stop the immigrants, no matter the vigilance, constantly wandering patrol agents, pole-mounted cameras trained on the border or underground sensors. "If it's made by man, it's going to be tampered and overcome by man," said Salvador Zamora, assistant Border Patrol agent in charge of the El Paso station. Every day Lujan and his team have to patch about 15 to 20 holes a day, and for every cut made in the fence probably three or five people make their way to a road, or a highway, reaching the neighborhoods. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who voted for the expanded fence, said that although a fence might make a difference in the urban areas, building one that requires daily maintenance in the middle of the open desert, "may not be the most efficient or cost-effective way to control illegal immigration."

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070808/ap_on_re_us/mending_fences;_ylt=AnfwYgIguShZqFb2WngLtjys0NUE

by Delia Cruceru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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