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CALEXICO, CA - OCTOBER 03: An empty Spanish language-labeled water bottle that may have been used by an illegal border crosser is seen near a backpack (not pictured) in the Imperial Sand Dunes near the US-Mexico border where new border fencing could be built on October 3, 2007 east of Calexico, California. Hundreds of people die each year migrating across the desert from Mexico. Recent US federal construction of border fences has rapidly sped up. The sudden acceleration marks a change from a month ago when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it would have only completed 15 of 70 miles of new fencing promised by the end of September, enraging anti-illegal-immigration groups and many Republicans. Instead, the DHS reached its goal of 70 miles to raise the total amount of border fences from 75 to about 145 miles. The fence-building frenzy is the result of the controversial Secure Fence Act, passed last fall, calling for 698 miles of border fences. Critics argue that extensive fencing will damage fragile desert environments, divide border neighborhoods, and that illegal immigrants will continue to find ways over, under, and through the fence or simply go around it elsewhere along the 2000-mile-long international border. Supporters believe that it will hinder border crossers.
