Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said that an amendment to a US immigration bill would cause the US to have the “most militarized border” since the Berlin Wall came down in 1989.
A bipartisan amendment to the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill
would double the number of Border Patrol agents from 20,000 to
40,000, fund construction of 700 miles of fencing along the
US-Mexico border, and provide billions of dollars for advanced
surveillance equipment.
Many Republican lawmakers have refused to support the immigration
reform bill as it currently stands, arguing that it does little
to enforce the border. The Senate advanced an amendment to the
legislation with a 67-27 vote last Monday, winning significant
support from Republican lawmakers and instilling hope that the
immigration reform bill could make it through the upper chamber.
But although the amendment would strengthen the border, it would
also rival the security at the former Berlin Wall, McCain said in
a CNN interview.
“The legislation concerning beefed up border security removes
any validity to the argument that border security is not
sufficient,” McCain said of the amendment, which was authored
by Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.).
“I mean this is not only sufficient, it is well
over-sufficient,” he added. “We’ll be the most militarized
border since the fall of the Berlin Wall. That’s why I think this
amendment was very important.”
The most secure version of the Berlin Wall, which formerly served
to prevent emigration from East Germany, was reinforced with a
smooth pipe to make it difficult to scale. It was surrounded by
mesh fencing, trenches, barbed wire, attack dogs, and beds of
nails under balconies that were hanging over the border. Border
security guards were stationed at 116 watchtowers and 20 bunkers,
and received “shoot to kill” orders if anyone tried to illegally
cross it.
According to the Centre for Contemporary History, 136 deaths have
been attributed to border crossing attempts at the Berlin Wall.
And although the US-Mexico border would use different security
methods than East Germany, it would be the most secure since the
fall of the Berlin Wall — a comparison that McCain believes would
garner support for the amendment.
“This is a border security measure which I think should
suffice to satisfy any critic and it is a tough way forward and
it is a way forward, a tough way forward so that we can resolve
this and bring 11 million people out of the shadows,” McCain
said.
If the amendment is passed and the reform bill implemented, the
US border fence would be seven times as long as the Berlin Wall
and have four times as many agents to guard it.
This article originally appeared on: RT