The George W. Bush Freedom Fence

According to a recent analysis in The Economist, the wall being built along the US-Mexican border simply doesn't make any sense. It is the wost of both worlds. The news magazine writes: "America is creating a barrier that is at once much too porous and rather too tight."

However, the wall is well on its way to becoming a reality:

By the end of this year the American government is supposed to have erected 670 miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico. Roughly half of the barrier is designed to stop everything bigger than a jackrabbit; the other half will let people through but stop vehicles. It is just part of a drive, stepped up in the past two years, to clamp down on illegal immigration and drug-smuggling. The Border Patrol is swelling from fewer than 6,000 officers in 1996 to more than 18,000 by next year. Unmanned watchtowers bristling with cameras and heat sensors are being developed. Finally, checks at proper border crossings are becoming more rigorous.

Continued here.