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Vendaval -> RE: What would it take to actually secure the border with Mexico? (8/3/2010 2:50:17 AM)
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(Thanks for the laugh Ron, I needed that. Watsonville is just a short ride north of here and in this area we have farm land a plenty with both long term and seasonal workers.)
General reply to the subject,
jlf1961 and Lady Pact have done a good job at outlining the basic costs in terms of personnel and equipment, julia makes good points about the drug wars, animus rex is right about the market place and globalization, Marini has good ideas about having prisoners do the labor, popeye, I don't want f.....ing land mines on our borders! What else, cadenas makes good points about legalities, orfunboi mentions the slave labor, and no, a culture does not stop at a border. And previous building of border fences has in fact employeed...illegal workers from Mexico! ta-da!
I have reservations about militarizing the Southern US/Mexico border but the increasing violence from the drug cartels makes me think this is a potential reality.
Some of the issues I have not seen addressed here -
Teaching and training the border personnel in both English and Spanish.
How to combat the corrupting influence of the drug cartel's money.
Would US troops be less likely to be tempted by the bribes, blackmail, kidnapping and extortion?
How successful would a joint US/Mexico military operation be given that most people in Mexico itself do not trust their own police force because of corruption?
How to maintain a safe and efficient flow between border towns of workers, produce, manufactured goods, etc. San Diego/Tijuana, Brownsville/Matamoros, etc.
How much would the current infrastrure have to be increased and improved?
Currently there are 42 border crossings and approx. 12 million people live in this region.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_%E2%80%93_United_States_border
Take a look at this report from 2005 .
Crossborder Freight Movements: Economic Impacts of Border Delays
Delays in getting trucks carrying freight across the Otay Mesa and Tecate international border crossings cost the U.S. and Mexico binational economy to lose a staggering $6 billion and more than 51,000 jobs during 2005.
Two-hour or longer delays in freight movement at the Otay Mesa-Mesa de Otay and Tecate-Tecate ports of entry are significantly impacting productivity, industry competitiveness, and lost business income at the regional, state, and national level.
It is estimated that at today’s level of processing time at the border – about two hours per truck – San Diego County loses $455 million in annual revenue from reduced freight activity. This translates into more than 2,400 jobs or $131 million in lost labor income a year.
The overall impact at the state level is $716 million in output losses and $204 million in labor income losses (or more than 3,600 jobs). For the United States, total output losses are estimated at $1.3 billion and employment losses at 7,646 jobs.
However, the overall economic impacts of delaying trucks at the border are substantially higher on the Mexican side of the border than the American side. For Baja California, total output losses amount to $1.317 billion and 6,929 jobs annually. For Mexico, total impact is estimated at $2.069 billion in lost output and 10,889 fewer jobs.
http://www.sandag.org/index.asp?projectid=253&fuseaction=projects.detail
quote:
ORIGINAL: mnottertail
OK, now, lets get a fucking head count before we go any further here, so we know what we are dealing with.
How many of you folks are unemployed? How many of you are loading your cars for az to get a job mowing lawns and trimming cacti, or are heading out to watsonville to cut lettuce?
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