Obviously, we need to fence off all that vulnerable beachfront, thousands of miles of it, where alien sea turtles and the occasional mutated oxygen-breathing shark are brazenly breaching our oceanic borders.

The fence will have to be invisible around beach-houses of rich folks, so as to not hurt property values. It will cost a lot more, but it's totally worth it.

Do you believe that we shouldn't maintain any control over our own borders at all?

Do you believe that we shouldn't maintain any control over our own borders at all?

Sure, but what is reasonable? It's pretty difficult to build barriers that actually prevent, rather the merely discouraging, passage. How many people will it take to watch those thousands of miles of fence to make sure nobody cuts holes in it?

I'll suggest that we might not have so much to worry about if we didn't put so much effort into annoying the rest of the world.

Canada has a little over twice the border with the US that Mexico does. Most of it is prarie and mountains and empty of people. We do maintain control of all the roads coming accross, or course. It keeps out such unpatriotic contraband as cuban cigars. But it isn't ever going to be practacle to patrol 2000 miles of fence well enough to keep out anyone who really wants in. And if you're not going to efectively patrol it why build a fence in the first place?

The communists tried this in Germany for over 40 years. The had a little luck in Berlin, but east Germans were sliping accross daily for the whole time and this in an area with a much higher population density that the US centeral plains.

International borders, all of them everywhere have always been porous. Anybody that talks about closing them completely is just talking jingoistic nonsense to satisfy a not very smart base.

You know, so many Mexicans wouldn't be risking their lives to get into the US if conditions in Mexico weren't so bad. But, instead of trying to help to improve the conditions in Mexico so that the Mexican people can have a country to be proud of we build a fence that won't really work (and, I might add, like all fences, will need be torn down eventually when we stop being barberous fools). You see, the policy of the US towards Mexico is to keep Mexico a rat-hole, because then we get cheap labor, cheap resources, lots of drugs and a customer (the Mexican government) for our military weapons!

As for Canada: Canada is not a dangerous place full of dangerous people. If anything, a fence on the US-Canadian border should be built by the Canadians to keep Americans out. None-the-less, any such wall, fence, etc. is a completely stupid idea. What a waste. I am ashamed at how primitive the Human race continues to remain (especially Republicans).

Have you been to Canada in the past 5 years?

Dripping with oil wealth.

Everyone has health care. Clean paved roads. Olympic games coming. No sub-prime situation.

Yes, perhaps a border fence does need to be built. But for whom?

Hundreds of miles of the northern border are rivers, as well as four of the world's largest lakes. They can't possibly be patrolled as there are thousands of small boats on them any summer weekend. So, the fence will have to be on land on the US shore, cutting off our Great Lakes from recreational access. This is already happening along the Rio Grande.

I'm not willing to give up my lake (Erie; I live near Cleveland) to keep out a few Canadians. If it would keep out Texans, I might reconsider.

Who are we fearing will enter?

People from the North looking to buy cheap property?

Come on and buy!

Oh, right. "Terrorists." They are swarming in from up north in their Toyota Tundras heading for Florida.

Tancredo says "WATCH OUT!"

I live directly on the US-Canada border. Out of my living room window, I see Canadians and their happy Canadian dogs. I do NOT want trigger-happy Lance Corporals and barbed wire in my yard!

We do a good job of policing this border. The Canadians do a good job of policing their other borders, where bad guys might come in, with the idea of getting into Our Land Of Opportunity, eventually.

Please keep these border kooks away from the Detroit River! Here's an unsettling development: Boeing is goeing to build one of their "virtual fences" on Lake St. Clair, a few miles north of where I live. It's a test, but it's scarey! Lance Corporals, please stay away.

Answer: Install video screens at regular intervals along the border that play a looped tape of the "South Park" movie.

Kyle's Mom and the 'Blame Canada' number are sure to scare all those darn Canucks back home to their log cabins - where Red Green will be on the tele as always to comfort and soothe them...

That's why I said 'overheated rhetoric aside'. Apparently that's a nonsequitor here. We're lead to believe by the true believers of Salon that everything is black or white. Either or. Whatever 'they' want is necessarily retarded, evil and a danger to puppies. So, since that's the case, we're supposed to simply not have borders, because THAT's a practical and entirely useful solution.

Here is what you do. Fine every employer of every illegal alien $5 million dollars per day per head. Including any public sector employees. Then in a few years, do away with any immigration requirements at all. If you can walk, swim, fly here, bingo you're a tax paying citizen. End of story. But this silly notion that we should pretend it's a nothing issue we should all pretend to ignore is just more idiot twaddle that gives people like you a bad name.

But, instead of trying to help to improve the conditions in Mexico so that the Mexican people can have a country to be proud of we build a fence that won't really work.

Unfortunately, Mexico is run by a bunch of kleptocrats who make ours look like amateurs when it comes to trashing a country in order to line your pockets. The only "help" you could send Mexico that might possibly make a difference would be an assortment of firearms for every man, woman and child plus enough ammo to exterminate Mexico's ruling class and all of their hired thugs.

Even then, a new kleptocracy would probably establish itself weeks after you swept aside the old one, anyhow.

I'm not sure why it's America's responsibility to go around "fixing" other countries to begin with. We're already supporting Mexico's ruling elites, by taking 20 million or so people off their hands that they're either too stupid or too greedy to support and giving them the jobs and social services their own country is unwilling to provide.