Border securityArizona to solicit donation to build border fence

Arizona will seek private donations to build border fence // Source: coldhardtruth.net

Arizona lawmakers, saying they have lost patience with what they regard as federal dithering over the issue of building a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, announced plans to launch a Web site which will solicit private donations for the project.

Arizona is already using donations to fund the costly appeal the state has launched against a ruling by a federal judge who blocked major provisions of the controversial SB1070 state immigration law. The AP reports that the fund, through Wednesday last week, has received nearly 44,000 donations totaling more than $3.7 million, collected online and through mailed donations since May 2010. Roughly half of the money has been spent, and Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson told AP that the balance is also needed for SB1070-related legal expenses.

One of the arguments the Arizona law makers are going to use in their appeal for funds is that Arizona, using the labor of prisoners in minimum-security prisons, can build the fence much more cheaply than the federal government. The AP quotes a2009 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) saying that costs of federal fencing work to keep out people on foot ranged from $400,000 to $15.1 million per mile, while costs for vehicle barriers ranged from $200,000 to $1.8 million. Costs varied by such things as types of fencing geography, land costs, and labor expenses.

State Corrections Director Charles Ryan said that at 50 cents an hour, “we are a relatively inexpensive labor force…If we have the funding to do it, we’re capable of doing it.”

One Arizona law maker said that as part of the marketing pitch for donations, donors will receive certificates declaring that the individual has “helped build the Arizona wall.”