Government Says Less than Half of Southwest Border Secure

Elisabeth Meinecke | February 21, 2011 9:45 AM

A new government report says that less than half of the U.S. southern border is "operationally controlled," Fox News reported today.

"The report found that 873 miles are under "operational control," which is only 44 percent of the entire Southern border. But the report said the 837 miles is on average an increase of 126 miles each year since 2005. "

So the PR spin from the White House will probably be Janet Napolitano's usual "the border is more secure than ever before," but considering the president's hesitancy to devote long-term resources to the border (remember, the National Guard troops he deployed last year to the border are scheduled to withdraw from most states in February), it's hard to think we'll see any vast improvement. Even taking some of the difficult geography into consideration, apparently it's too much to ask for control of our actual border.

But remember, we're winning the future with high speed rail.

The article also said the report gauges not only the security of the border but also the Border Patrol's handling of the situation once someone has crossed illegally.