Another Brick in The Wall

Not only is the idea of building a fence along the entire U.S.-Mexico border impractical, but it would also leave Mexico open to the turmoil that plagues other Latin American countries, the San Antonio Express-News says.

Mexico City Bureau reporter Dan Schiller quotes U.S. and Mexican observers who say that access to the States serves as a "social safety valve" that lets our southern neighbor escape political and economic problems that Central and South American nations endure. If the United States actually managed to shut that valve,

[...] undocumented immigrants no longer would be able to send home the billions of dollars — $16.6 billion in 2004, and a whopping $20 billion estimated for 2005 — that put food on dinner tables nationwide and buoy Mexico's economy.

We need a sensible immigration policy that lets in the people who want to work, so they don't have to risk their lives crossing over here illegally. That will leave the Border Patrol more time to look for violent criminals and terrorists instead of day laborers and migrant farmworkers.

Besides, a wall won't keep determined bad guys out. They'll just tunnel under it or they'll just enter the country with legal entry visas. If we build a wall, we're really just burying our head in the sand.