Viral video raises questions about border fence

U.S. taxpayers spend billions annually to repair and maintain a fence along the border of Mexico to prevent illegal immigration, but, according to a youtube.com video that's gone viral, it's pretty easy to get around.

In the video, two women, a blonde and a brunette, are shown racing to the top of the rust-red fence. One shimmies to the top in 15.5 seconds. The other makes it in 17.75.

Filmmaker Roy Germano, who posted the clip, told Fox News one mile of border fence costs U.S. taxpayers an average of $4 million. On the video, which is a segment of Germano's documentary, "The Other Side of Immigration," he asks the question, "Are we getting our money's worth?"

Frank Sharry, executive director of the immigration reform group America's Voice, said the video is an illustration of the nation's shallow approach to immigration.

"This stark example underlies the futility of the GOP's border-only approach to immigration," Sharry wrote in a statement to the Huffington Post. "We are responding to a 21st-century challenge with a 14th-century wall. Immigration is a complex problem that deserves a comprehensive solution."

In the Fox News article, Bob Price of Border Watch agreed that the portion of fence shown in the video was poorly designed, but he said in other areas, the fence has decreased crossing by as much as 95 percent.

"We need to have a combination of high-technology predator drones," he said. "We need additional manpower along the border, and then where appropriate we need to build these double-layered secured fences to actually secure the border."

The Obama administration recently canceled a controversial $1 billion program to build a virtual fence along the U.S./Mexico border. The project would have covered the Southwest border with a single, integrated surveillance system.

e-mail: estuart@desnews.com