Border security proposals worthy of investigation

Two new border security proposals have merit. Multiple agencies joining as one task force, and headquartered in El Paso, is a great idea. And placing border land under the Border Patrol can work, too, providing there is enough sensitivity to the natural habitats. We like what Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., said: "The problem on that (southern) border is becoming so desperate and so dangerous and so threatening to our entire country. ... I think we have to do something quickly, and I think it has to be bold." It should be quick, and it should be bold. And let there be plans on a table that are devoid of the separate federal fiefdoms that now seem in play. The second proposal is a shift in control of border land from the Interior Department or Forest Service to the Department of Homeland Security. Presently the Border Patrol can sometimes be blocked from doing their job by land managers. In one instance, a tower used by Border Patrol agents was ordered removed because of concerns about endangered species. The Border Patrol should be granted more freedom to do its job; and it can and should do so in a way natural habitats are not adversely affected...more