It states that we must construct a "two-layered reinforced" fence and a border-long "virtual fence" of "cameras, ground sensors and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles."
It stops just short of declaring these fences the triumphant solution to the problem of illegal immigration.
It sounds more to me like a solution dreamed up by 5-year-olds. Got a problem with your neighbor? Put up a great big fence. Can't or won't solve a complex economic, diplomatic, political problem? Remove it from view! That fence will take care of our issues, once and for all. We might even wind up worshipping it.
The Arizona Daily Star sent an investigative team on a mission to the border. The team of six spent three weeks examining the border and interviewing local residents and various experts to determine if the fence would work. Their conclusion: No way. You can't make a fence that stands securely over rugged mountain terrain or shifting riverbeds.
The cost is exorbitant, an estimated $2 billion to $5 billion a year. And, according to the Star's findings, 100,000 border-patrol agents would be needed to seal the border effectively - 10 times the current number.
Ignoring such concerns, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6061, the Secure Fence Act. It is tempting to look away from things we'd rather not see, like the abject poverty of our neighbors to the south that makes many so desperate that they leave home and family, risking their lives to find some way out. We'd rather not be confronted with the contrast between our prosperity and their degradation, and when we can't avoid that confrontation, we tend to demonize those who struggle and suffer.
The proposed fence is a dumb idea, but it's also an immoral one. Nothing in the Judeo-Christian tradition supports that fence or other draconian measures aimed at keeping the poor out of sight, out of mind. Nor does that tradition endorse efforts to hoard our wealth while our neighbors suffer. We are called to overcome our selfishness and open our hands: "The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:34).
Certainly, the U.S. has legitimate reasons to protect its borders against terrorists and other criminals, and to create an orderly and just system for immigration. This does not negate the God-given obligation upon those of us who claim a Christian identity to welcome the stranger and to serve the poor in Christ's name, however uncomfortable or difficult this might be.
The same day I received the news release, I started a conversational Spanish class with my fellow clergy from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Evanston. We believe we need to do this to better welcome our Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters. Our learning Spanish won't solve the immigration problem, but neither will that 700-mile fence.
If every congregation made even a small effort to reach out in reconciliation to the poor among us, whether they are from Mexico or Mississippi, we might be spared the folly of such legislative lunacies as H.R. 6061. It's worth a try - and it's what we're commanded to do by the One whose impoverished parents, much like the immigrants we welcome or spurn today, had to flee into an alien land so shortly after his birth.
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* THE REV. CONNIE CLARK is an Episcopal priest and chaplain in Evanston, Wyo. She writes about current events and trends from a moral perspective. You can write her at chaplconnie@yahoo.com. You also may comment on this article by writing religioneditor@sltrib.com.
