11/22/2001  888WebToday   There is a famous poem by Robert Frost that ends with the memorable line, "Good fences make good neighbors."

This has literally come true in Imperial Beach, California.   It is all part of what the U.S. Border Patrol calls "Operation Gatekeeper."  They have erected a big fence there to keep out illegal aliens, and this rather obvious idea seems to be working.

Before the fence went up, thousands of illegal aliens were streaming across the border with nothing but the packs on their backs, sleeping in the fields and along the beach, a horde of homeless vandals surviving mostly through theft and shoplifting.

In one 24 hour period since the fence went up, the border patrol apprehended no fewer than two thousand illegals.  Law and order has been restored to Imperial Beach.  Crime has declined.  The tourists are no longer frightened away, and tourism has revived.

Other such fences have been erected with similar beneficial results at El Paso and Brownsville.

Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has been undercutting the progress that has been made by the Border.  Last summer, the new President of the Republic of Mexico met with George Bush and explained his position:  he wants to erase the border that exists presently between the United States and Mexico to permit Mexican citizens to cross our borders and take up residence in the United States in unlimited numbers and without "let or hindrance," as the lawyers say.  He also wants another retroactively effective mass amnesty for all Mexican illegals presently in the United States.  (This despite the facts that we gave amnesty to about 5 million illegals back in 1986, which was supposed to be a one-time deal that would solve the problem forever.)  It was astounding that President Bush has actually seemed to endorse these radical proposals.  It was even more astounding that they provoked such little public debate.

But the ease with which the nineteen terrorists involved in the September 11 attacks entered this country as illegal aliens has focused national attention on the entire immigration issue as never before.

Now we hear from Mr. Bush that he may be considering at least tightening up our standards for granting visas.  Apparently, he has had enough of illegal aliens who enter our country to learn how to fly planes, but don't care to know how to take off or land with them !

It may still not be too late to have an intelligent national debate over unrestricted immigration, and ironically, we may have the terrorists to thank for that.

The recent action of the Mexican government, which confers dual citizenship on Mexicans who take up residence in the United States makes it all the more crucial that this debate come soon.  Dual citizenship means that one may leave Mexico and come to the U.S. and even become a citizen of our country without having to forfeit any of the privileges and rights of Mexican citizenship.  This is obviously an additional inducement for more of President Fox's countrymen to head for places like El Paso, Brownsville, and Imperial Beach.

In the meanwhile, we can only hope that the Border Control continues to hold the line with their "good fences."

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