President Bush visited Arizona Wednesday to sign federal legislation that will fund the construction of a 700-mile fence on the U.S.-Mexico border, aimed at decreasing illegal crossings. The bill also provides money for the hiring of additional border patrol agents as well as jails to detain those caught crossing the border illegally.
According to an Arizona Daily Star report, Bush said, “”This legislation will give us better tools to enforce our immigration laws and to secure our southern border.
This bill’s going to make this country safer to all of our citizens.””
But what do UA students say?
Campus response to the planned fence was negative. Here’s a sampling:
| “”I don’t think illegal immigration’s going to stop. It might help, but (illegal immigrants are) still going to almost kill themselves getting over here.”” |
Nancy Lomas
psychology junior
| “”I don’t think that it’s really going to solve the issue. People think there’s a better quality of life in the U.S., so (illegal immigration is) not going to stop. And I thought segregation was voted down in the 1960s.”” |
Preston Smith
wildlife science senior
| “”I think it’s a move to draw votes. The money could be spent elsewhere. If we did more to help Mexico out, then maybe they would have a reason to stay in their country.”” |
Amit Kumar
political science senior
| “”It’s pointless – it’s a fence! There’s no way people can patrol that much desert; people will just jump over anyway. If anything, they should invest money in making the border patrol better, not just throwing money at a fence.”” |
Tory Carr
physics senior
| “”It’s a completely political decision that has nothing to do with the actual problem. It’s just bling bling.”” |
Chris Pagliarulo
molecular and cellular
biology graduate student
