A Fence for the Border

It's the first step toward creating a 700-mile fence line along the U.S. - Mexico border.  President Bush signed a key appropriations bill that begins this process.

The funding was included in part of the annual homeland security spending bill which totalled $33.8 billion.  The measure boosts the number of U.S. Border Patrol agents to 14,800, funds 27,500 detention beds for illegal aliens, and includes $1.2 billion for a fence, vehicle barriers and other infrastructure.

In the words of President Bush:  "It's what the people of this country want -- they want to know that we're modernizing the border so we can better secure the border."  President Bush signed this measure in Arizona on October 5th.