THE PRICE OF A FENCE

By Michelle Malkin

The Senate ignores the Windbag from Massachusetts and votes:

The Senate voted to build 370 miles of triple-layered fencing along the Mexican border Wednesday and clashed over citizenship for millions of men and women who live in the United States illegally.

Amid increasingly emotional debate over election-year immigration legislation, senators voted 83-16 to add fencing and 500 miles of vehicle barriers along the southern border. It marked the first significant victory in two days for conservatives seeking to place their stamp on the contentious measure.

But if the price of the fence is this...

The prospects were less favorable for their attempt to strip out portions of the legislation that could allow citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants and create new guest worker programs.

...is it worth it? And given past history and yesterday's vote against enforcement first, you already know which provision--the amnesty, not the fence--is the Senate's top priority and which will be in place first.

House Republicans aren't falling for the ruse, and continue to push for enforcement FIRST:

Across the Capitol in the House, the story was different. Republicans pushed through a border security bill last year, and several members of the rank-and-file have criticized Bush for his proposals. To calm their concerns, the White House dispatched Karl Rove to their weekly closed-door meeting.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, an outspoken opponent of the Senate bill, derided the effort. "I didn't see it was a persuasive event. If it was about Karl Rove seeking to convince members of Congress after debate that he's right and we're wrong it would have been better not to have the meeting," he said.

King said Rove told lawmakers Bush is sincere about enforcement. But, he added, "The president doesn't want to enforce immigration law because he's afraid he'll inconvenience someone who wants to come into the country for a better life."

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., agreed that Rove did not seem to have been persuasive. "It's not the kind of issue you can compromise on; either you're giving amnesty to people who are here illegally or you aren't."

Meanwhile, here's just a small reminder of the cost of this nation's long history of open-borders empty gestures.

***

Should be an interesting scene in Washington in about an hour. The illegal alien lobby says it'll have 100,000 amnesty-demanding activists pounding the pavement. I can't make it there tonight, but hope to have a few eyewitness reports. Wonder if the MSM will EVER cover these radicalized protests in a fair and balanced way...

Who will be building the fence? Reader Daniel G. imagines the news story:

Illegal Immigrants Hired to Build Fence To Keep Illegal Immigrants Out

"They'll work for cheap and get the job done right,'' Pres. Bush said.