GAO Report: Limited Control Over our Own Border

A nation with no borders is not a nation at all.  Sadly, that is exactly what Obama wants.

Obama has no problem ignoring Congress to use our military on behalf of Al-Qaeda backed rebels in a country that has no interest to our security.  Yet, he eagerly abdicates his core constitutional responsibility to protect our own border and sovereignty.

On Wednesday, Richard M. Stana, director of homeland security issues at the Government Accountability Office, testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security regarding the status of our border security.  His 28 page report paints a grim picture and exposes the vulnerability of our border.  Here are some of the key findings:

• Of the 1,825-mile U.S.-Mexico border, only 129 miles, or 7%, are fully secure.  There are another 744 miles in which the border patrol has established "an acceptable level of control."
•  Of the 3,918-mile northern border, only 2 miles are fully secure, while another 69 miles have "an acceptable level of control."
• In 2010, $11.9 billion was appropriated for our overall border security.  Just $3.9 billion was appropriated for border security efforts between points of entry.

In case you are confused about the distinction between the fully secure areas and the "acceptable" ones, the Border Patrol offers the following classification.  The 129 most secure miles of the Mexican border are the ones in which CBP has "the ability to deter or detect and apprehend illegal entries at the immediate border".  An "acceptable level of control" (744 miles, in this case) is established when CPB is able to apprehend illegals after they have entered U.S. soil to “distances of up to 100 miles or more away from the immediate border.”


The fact that the Border Patrol, for the most part, can only detect illegal entry after they are deep into U.S. territory is extremely troublesome.  In a sane world, we would be deporting those illegals who were apprehended even after the point of entry.  Sadly, the Obama administration has granted amnesty by administrative fiat, thus rendering any deterrent capability ineffective.  As long as illegals entrants are able to penetrate the border, they have an excellent chance of remaining in the country indefinitely.  This is because Obama and Napolitano have ordered CPB to focus exclusively on violent illegals.  Earlier this week, Obama told an illegal alien student that he will ostensibly never deport non-criminal aliens:

“We have redesigned our enforcement practices under the law to make sure that we’re focusing primarily on criminals, and so our deportation of criminals are up about 70 percent. Our deportation of non-criminals are down, and that’s because we want to focus our resources on those folks who are destructive to the community. “And for a young person like that young woman that we just spoke to who’s going to school, doing all the right things, we want them to succeed."  (emphasis added)

So Obama is admitting that he is knowingly disregarding a core responsibility of his presidency.  He is also making it clear that once illegals are able to penetrate the border, they will remain in the country, irrespective of the dedicated and courageous efforts of our border agents.  As long as they enter through the right 93% of the border, their claims on our welfare state will be irrevocable.

We are currently spending just $3.9 billion a year on the border patrol, one of the most fundamental responsibilities of government.  Yet, we already spent over $500 million in one week fighting alongside Al-Qaeda in Libya!

Unfortunately, our border crisis is not an appropriations problem.  It is an administrative problem.  Much like Obama's bureaucratic power grab over the internet, health care, environmental regulations, and labor laws; he has used the power of unelected officials to undermine our immigration laws.  In each case, he has supplanted the authority of Congress and thwarted the will of the people in an effort to implement a radical agenda.

Maybe President Obama will teach Chuck Schumer the true definition of extremism.