Last month, President Obama announced that the 1,200 U.S. troops working security on the Mexican border will stay through the end of the year. More than 17,000 border patrol agents are on duty along the 2,000-mile border, so the military’s contribution is relatively insignificant. Still, Obama’s nod toward beefed-up border security seems to be playing well. Even Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who has had more than a few run-ins with the administration on border and immigration issues, applauded the decision.
The rare moment of Obama-Brewer accord actually demonstrates the lousy state of the public debate over how to fix American’s broken borders. Like drunken sailors comparing tattoos, politicians boast about how many dollars, troops or miles of wall they’ve thrown at the border.
