Just 5-Miles Of Double-Layer Fencing Built In First Year Of Secure Fence Act

Grassroots Question GAO Report and Claims Of Progress On The Border
Maxwell, IA—Grassfire.org researchers have discovered that just five miles of double-layer fencing have been built in the first year of implementation of the Secure Fence Act—despite the Act’s specific mandate of 854 miles of double-layer fencing. “The GAO and Department of Homeland Security are playing games with the American people,” said Steve Elliott, President of Grassfire.org.

“There is no real accountability on the border to oversee what kind of fencing is built, or independent assessment. They wrongly assumed the American people would be satisfied.” Although the government claims 70 miles of fence has been built, it’s not the double-layered fencing that was promised and funded in the Secure Fence Act of 2007. “The report claims 73 miles of fencing was erected in the past year, meeting its goal,” says Elliott. “But the GAO report didn’t indicate that the vast majority of fencing wasn’t double-layered. The truth is, the American people are being scammed.”

Though claiming success, it is clear that the DHS goals have little—if anything to do with the text of the Secure Fence Act. In addition, most of the “progress” toward meeting the DHS’s own goal of 70 miles of fencing in fiscal year 2007 apparently was met in the final 60 days of the fiscal year. The latest reports indicate that fence construction has since slowed to a standstill--giving way to speculation that most of the “progress” was simply to meet the fiscal year deadline.

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