DeKALB | President George W. Bush signed a bill Thursday to build a 700-mile fence along the Mexican border in an effort to deter illegal immigration.

The fence will run along the 2100-mile border between Mexico and California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

One concern of the bill is that it is largely for political show right before the upcoming election.

“This bill to build a fence is a bumper sticker solution that Republicans hope will provide cover for their stunning failure to produce comprehensive immigration reform,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., in an Oct. 26 Reuters story.

It seems this is a political gesture that dramatic steps will be taken, when really a more comprehensive system is necessary, said Michael Gonzales, director of the Center for Latino and Latin American Studies.

Gonzales said he does not think a fence along the border will really deter people from crossing illegally.

“People who are determined to cross the border will cross where there isn’t a fence or will tunnel under the fence,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales also said it is not uncommon that most people trying to cross the border travel great distances, sometimes of 400 or 500 miles, just to reach the border, so traveling another 100 miles to a spot without the fence would not be a big deal.

Plans of the Senate and President Bush himself originally included a more extensive plan that included a guest-worker program and eventual citizenship for immigrant, as well as border security. However, House Republicans were against anything that would seem to give amnesty to illegal immigrants, according to an Oct. 26 New York Times article.

A separate homeland security spending bill provided $1.2 billion for the fence and technology advances. The bill also will provide for more vehicle barriers, checkpoints and advanced technology to better secure the border, according to the New York Times.