Border Patrol to burn bushes in battle against smugglers

The Border Patrol (BP) plans to poison bushes and shrubs near the U.S.-Mexico border as a measure to combat human smuggling.

The pilot program is expected to last three months and calls for the herbicide of dense foliage along more than a mile of the Rio Grande riverbank in Texas. According to a BP spokesman the plant eradication will help eliminate hiding places for smugglers crossing the border from Mexico. If successful, the program may be expanded to other areas along the border area.

Critics of the program cite the possible environmental damage cased by the manual and aerial application of pesticides. Mexican officials worry that the important water supply may become tainted though the BP said that the chemicals would be safe.

In addition, the $2.1 million price tag for the program may be better spent on more efficient security measures. According to a Tucson Citizen editorial:

If smugglers and illegal immigrants are hiding in dense foliage there, then by all means eradicate the flora.

But why not do so with manual labor, which is faster and far more effective than herbicide?

As any gardener knows, pulling weeds and other plants out by the roots is a sure way to eliminate them. And with unemployment skyrocketing during this recession, the Border Patrol could hire Americans to do this work, thus providing at least temporary jobs…

It's a terrible precedent that likely will cause far more harm than good. Buy some Weed Eaters and hire some workers. But pack away that poison.

Image- USA TODAY
Online Sources- Tucson Citizen, AP, USA TODAY