For Immediate Release:
Thursday, September 14, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Congressman Dan Boren voted today in support of legislation requiring a fence be installed along the U.S.-Mexico border within 18 months.  H.R. 6061, the Secure Fence Act, passed the House of Representatives 283-138.

 

“The first step toward effective immigration reform has to be border security,” Boren said.  “It’s not just an immigration issue; it’s a matter of national security.  In this age of global terrorism we have to know who and what is coming across our borders.”

 

H.R. 6061 requires the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to construct a 700-mile, two-layered fence along five areas of the border with Mexico.  If the legislation passes the Senate and is signed into law by the president it requires the fence be built no later than 18 months after enactment.

 

“There has been a lot of debate in Congress over comprehensive immigration reform,” Boren said.  “But none of our other immigration laws will work if we can’t control who is coming across the border.  That’s why this has to be priority No. 1.”

 

The fence would be built in five areas of the border most vulnerable to illegal entry: a 20-mile segment at Tecate, Calif.; the stretch between Calexico, Calif., and Douglas, Ariz.; the stretch between Columbus, N.M., and El Paso, Texas; the stretch between Del Rio, Texas, and Eagle Pass, Texas; and the stretch between Laredo, Texas, and Brownsville, Texas.

 

The bill also requires a study be conducted on the feasibility of a state-of-the-art barrier system along the U.S.-Canadian border.

 

“Because of the growing illegal immigration problem the southern border has to take priority,” Boren said.  “But in the long-term we have to secure all of our points of entry.”

####