In October 2006, the US government decided to build a 700-mile fence along its troubled 2000-mile plus border with Mexico. Three years, 19 construction companies, 350 engineers, thousands of construction workers, and 3 billion dollars- Was it worth it?
“The Fence” airing on HBO this Thursday concludes that the 3 billion dollars the U.S. has spent on building a fence between Mexico and the US has not deterred illegal immigrants or drug traffickers from entering the country.
The film argues that anyone intent on entering the US can easily climb, dig under, and drive over the fence, which abruptly ends in the desert.
“One of the most confounding and little-known realities of the fence is that it only covers about one third of the 2,000-mile (3,218-km) border,” said Rory Kennedy, the director and narrator.
Kennedy, who is a daughter of the late U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy, spent weeks traveling along the border from California to Texas as the fence was being built in 2009. It is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Some 650 miles (1,046 kms) of the 670-mile wall called for under the Secure Fence Act and signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush in October 2006 have been built. It contains 120,000 tonnes of metal and materials, ranging from railroad ties to concrete and chain link fencing.
