Is U.S.-Mexico border secure enough?
Along the U.S.-Mexico border, fortification has reached an all-time peak.
The ranks of Border Patrol agents top 17,600. Nearly 650 miles of additional fencing is up. Four unmanned drones patrol from California to the Gulf of Mexico. Twelve hundred National Guard soldiers are on the ground. Camera systems numbering 467 sweep the perimeter and 10,800 ground sensors lie in wait.
Given this unprecedented expansion in resources during the past decade, U.S. government officials said the southwest border is the tightest it has ever been.
Skeptics and “border security first” supporters are convinced it is still not enough, while advocates for comprehensive immigration reform believe it is more than adequate and the nation should push forward on other issues, such as restructuring the visa system and creating a process for illegal immigrants living in the U.S. to gain legal status.