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Will Chertoff Fence Fall Short?

Construction Slows to Snails Pace
American Border Patrol -- August 26
An aerial survey of the border conducted in late July 2008 found little progress in building the fence along the U.S./Mexico border. American Border Patrol found that only eight miles of new fencing and four miles of new vehicle barriers had been completed since its last survey in April.

Most of the new fencing, 4.4 miles, was added at Lukeville, Arizona (see video), with the rest, 3.6 miles, being split among El Paso, Texas (video), Columbus, New Mexico (video), Yuma, Arizona (video) and Calexico, California (video). Construction had begun on the final three miles of double fencing at the Pacific Ocean south of San Diego.
According to its press release of December 7, 2007 the Department of Homeland Security said it would complete 670 miles of pedestrian fencing and vehicle barriers this year. "At the rate of a little more than1 mile of fencing per month for the last three months, and more than 350 miles of fence and barriers to go, I don't see how DHS is going to come close to meeting its promise," said Glenn Spencer, head of ABP and pilot of the aerial survey airplane.
Spencer said ABP will conduct another aerial survey at the end of September to check on progress of the border fence. ABP is the only non-governmental organization that performs eyes-on surveys of border fence progress. (To help them do it, click here.)