All of us know the importance of having a good fence to define the borders of our property. It would not take much imagination to see the chaos that would ensue if the people in a large city refused to erect fences. Small children would be constantly in danger of wandering onto the streets and being hit by cars. There would be roving packs of dogs that would terrorize neighborhoods. Thieves would have a heyday taking the possessions of others. I hope that these examples will remind us of the importance to our security and well being by having a good fence. A few months ago I wrote about the plans to construct a fence on our southern border with Mexico. Now there are reports that the border fence may not happen.

The 109th Congress, controlled by the GOP, had approved construction of the high-tech barrier aimed at reducing the flow of illegal aliens coming across the U.S.-Mexico border. But recently new House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer indicated it is unlikely that funding will be available to allow the project to go forward. A spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) describes the $1.2 billion earmarked for construction of the fence as "the first positive step that Congress had taken in a very long time to control illegal immigration." Now he doubts whether the 110th Congress will even spend that money on the project.

Far too often we only think of people coming across the border as being people that are only coming to America to get a job. If those people were the only ones coming across, the problem would not be as serious as it currently is. When we fail to stem the tide of illegals, it is easier for drug runners and terrorists to blend into the crowd.