U.S. May Expand Fences on Mexico Border

By JACQUES BILLEAUD
Associated Press Writer

DOUGLAS, Ariz. (AP) -- Much of this dusty city along the border is separated from Mexico by a fence consisting of 12-foot vertical metal bars, spaced inches apart to prevent illegal immigrants from squeezing through.

Surveillance cameras are mounted on towers nearby, and Border Patrol agents posted hundreds of feet away in the desert scrub and flowering ocotillo watch for anyone who might try to scale, cut through, slip under or sneak around the fence.

Though these fences are criticized for shifting would-be border-crossers to more dangerous and remote spots, they do make it harder for illegal immigrants to reach urban areas where they can slip into a car and head for the nation's interior to find work.

Now, as Washington seeks to overhaul America's broken immigration policies, Congress is considering putting many more such barriers along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, which already has 83 miles of fences.