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Tags: (THE COURIER) — The 2006 Secure Fence Act prompted the U.S. to build barriers along a 653-mile stretch of border dividing California and Arizona with Mexico to deter immigrants and drug smugglers.
Much of the fence is a slatted-metal barrier, 18 to 30 feet high. But because of budget concerns, it also consists of vehicles barriers and single-layer pedestrian fencing, not double-layer fencing cited in the law.
Drug smugglers responded by building 148 tunnels — including some multimillion-dollar lighted and well-ventilated “supertunnels” — under the border.
The Los Angeles Times reports U.S. and Mexican authorities systematically closed tunnels, only to have smugglers re-open them.