Bordering On Insanity

The residents of El Calaboz, Texas are singing "Don't Fence Me In" today. Apparently, some residents want border security, but they won't allow it to be inconvenient for them. Read on:

EL CALABOZ, Texas (CNN) -- Eloisa Tamez says she isn't scared anymore, just determined. "I am not backing down," she said.

Tamez owns three acres of land along the Texas-Mexico border where the Department of Homeland Security would like to build a border fence. The property is a remnant of a 12,000-acre grant from Spain to her family in 1767, before the United States even existed.

"It is my history. It is my heritage," Tamez said.

This week, the Justice Department began legal action against landowners and municipalities who have refused to give government surveyors access to their land. Tamez expects she will be sued sometime soon, but she is not intimidated.

Asked how long she will fight, she said, "As long as I have to."

Michael Chertoff, the Secretary of Homeland Security, said the fence will not be stopped by opponents like Tamez.

"Can we simply abandon an enterprise because it is a problem for a particular individual?" Chertoff told CNN. "I don't think I can accept that." (H/T - CNN.com)

This sounds like the usual prison argument: "I want the city to build more prisons. I just don't want them built in my backyard." Now, normally I would be all for the rights of the citizens here, but I think folks like Tamez are missing the bigger picture. The border needs a fence, like yesterday, and despite the claims of McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez, adding more agents, deepening the Rio Grande, and clearing vegetation is not a better alternative.

There must be a compromise available that can satisfy both the government and the border residents. The last thing we need is this debate to be tied up in the court system for fifty years. We don't have that kind of time.