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 Editorials | Opinions | November 2007 
Viewpoint: A New Type of Hunting Season
 The Daily Texan
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| On Nov. 20, Gov. Rick Perry announced that he would be reviving his virtual border watch program with $3 million in state funds as soon as January.
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In its one-month trial run last year, Texasborderwatch.com was a huge hit. During the month it was tested, the site garnered more than 25 million hits and received 13,000 emails. Also during that period, at least 10 illegal immigrants were valiantly stopped from crossing the border by vigilant emailers sending in tips.
The Web site is a cheap antidote to soothe the government's paranoia over illegal immigration. Proposed plans for a 700-mile border wall could cost the state as much as $3 million per mile, as compared to $3 million for the entire virtual border watch program. Not only is the plausible effectiveness of a border wall hotly debated, opponents claim that a wall would decimate the businesses and environment around it. At least the illegal immigration reality show of Texasborderwatch.com can assure the public that Texas is doing its best to move into the future by using technology to cope with its issues. Perhaps the video cameras and live-action Web site can replace the archaic idea of building the Great Wall of America to keep Mexicans out.
But is it a wise idea to make border patrol a "team effort" by letting anyone take a stab at keeping watch on the line between America and Mexico? When we talk about a participatory democracy, this is not exactly what we mean. It is one thing to trust average citizens to roleplay border police. But we think most of the people that would log onto Texasborderwatch.com would be far from average. Many of the cameras are placed on private ranches and farms near the border, rather than in "the neighborhoods where families will continue to enjoy their privacy," according to Perry. What could this strategic placement of cameras encourage but increased vigilante justice? As Nina Perales, regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, told the Houston Chronicle: "The open invitation for every member of the public to get involved in immigration enforcement can be a problem when you have people with violent tendencies."
As the cameras' premise shows, oppression knows no specific time period in history. Whether there is a fortress full of rabid dogs at the border or a group of cyberfiends sitting at home in their underwear refreshing the site, Texas needs to keep innovating, and in more creative directions than "against." Flexible solutions are needed, and the best way to improve security is to make professional border agents' jobs easier. Rather than leave our security to a stationary wall or inexperienced vigilantes, the Department of Homeland Security should continue to implement strategies that help us catch people as they actually cross the border. Unmanned aircraft and new sensory technology can alert agents of any potential crossings, and they can respond to threats as necessary, allowing direct instead of passive action to be taken.
Of course, the only truly effective solution is to get people to stop wanting to cross the border. Strictly penalizing businesses that employ illegal immigrants will dry up the illegal immigrant job market, and working to reduce poverty and strengthen Mexico's economy will make people actually want to stay there instead of taking the risky journey into the United States. Solutions like the virtual border watch are nothing more than another unneeded online distraction. |
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