Secure Fence Act of 2006 of US-Mexico Border wall
- 15shantorx
- Apr 29, 2019
- 2 min read
The Secure Fence Act of 2006, signed into law on October 26, 2006, by U.S. President George W. Bush,
authorized and partially funded the "possible" construction of 700 miles (1,125 km) of physical fence/barriers along the Mexican border. The very broad support for the Act implied that many assurances were made by the Administration – to the Democrats, Mexico, and the pro "Comprehensive immigration reform" minority among Republicans – that Homeland Security would proceed very cautiously. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff announced that an eight-month test of the virtual fence he favored would precede any construction of a physical barrier.
The Department of Homeland Security has a down payment of $1.2 billion marked for border security, but not specifically for the border fence.
As of January 2010, the fence project had been completed from San Diego, California to Yuma, Arizona.
From there it continued into Texas and consisted of a fence that was 21 feet (6.4 m) tall and 6 feet (1.8 m) deep in the ground, cemented in a 3-foot (0.91 m)-wide trench with 5,000 psi (345 bar; 352 kg/cm²) concrete. There were no fatalities during construction, but there were 4 serious injuries with multiple aggressive acts against building crews. There was one reported shooting with no injury to a crew member in the Mexicaliregion. All fence sections are south of the All-American Canal, and have access roads giving border guards the ability to reach any point easily, including the dunes area where a border agent was killed 3 years prior
[when?]
and is now sealed off.
The Republican Party's 2012 platform stated "The double-layered fencing on the border that was enacted by Congress in 2006, but never completed, must finally be built."
The Secure Fence Act's costs were estimated at $6 billion,
more than the Customs and Border Protection's entire annual discretionary budget of $5.6 billion.
The Washington Office on Latin America noted on its Border Fact Check site in 2013 that the cost of complying with the Secure Fence Act's mandate was the reason it had not been completely fulfilled.
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