Even criminals have cooperated to Arizona border fence again

A website launched by the state of Arizona to extend the fence on the border between Mexico and the United States has raised more than $ 100,000 in grants during its first week of operation, said a local legislator.



State Sen. Steve Smith, sponsor of the bill authorizing the fence, said the total does not include checks that have arrived in the mail. The Maricopa Republican fund gave the figure of a legislative committee that focuses on border security.



He said people from 50 states made ​​donations since the first day of operation of the site and the level of activity shows that people recognize that the porosity in the southern U.S. border is a national problem, not just Arizona.



The plan sets the state to use the donated money and labor of convicts to further build a fence in parts of the border, probably on private property or state.



The federal government already has built about 1045 kilometers (650 miles) of fence on the nearly 3 000 200 miles of border, nearly half of it in Arizona.



The costs of the state project to extend the fence along the border are not known due to several factors, said Smith.



Estimates range from 250 thousand to nearly one million dollars per kilometer, but organizers hope to get donations and discounts from suppliers who work on the project.



We will use inmate labor to build the fence, Smith said.



The number of miles of fence to be built is unknown. The goal is to cover 131 of the 600-mile border it shares with Mexico Arizona without wall.



The plan could also barriers in an undetermined number of miles that could not be adequately fenced, Smith said