Collegiate Times

How much is $1.9 billion really worth? The Senate voted Wednesday to redirect that much of the approximately $62.7 billion President Bush requested for the war in Iraq to fund border security measures.

The redirection will be used to purchase new aircraft and patrol boats as well as establish border checkpoints along the border near San Diego ? an area suspected to be oft-used by illegal immigrants.

Some politicians are concerned that cutting money from the Iraq War shows a lack of support for our troops. However, as Judd Gregg, R-N.H. said, ?To come down here and allege that these funds are going to come out of the needs of the people on the front lines of Iraq or Afghanistan is pure poppycock.?

He also argues that the money would be much better spent in helping border control, arguing his plan would ?give the people who are defending us on our borders, the border security agents, the Custom agents, the Coast Guard, the tools they need to do their job right?the unmanned vehicles, the cars, the helicopters which are a critical part of our fight in the war on terrorism. It has to be done now.?

The situation of illegal immigration needs just as much money and attention as the War in Iraq. Immigration is the political flavor of the week. But rather than assign an arbitrary amount of money to ?solve the problem,? a logical plan should be thought up firstA mere 3 percent of a single appropriation is not a solution.

While the issue of illegal immigration has erupted as a major issue in the media as of late, it?s not a new concern. If Congress decides the immigration situation is deserving of money and attention now (with an eye to the November elections), they should do it right. Without a solid plan for action, the money allotted to help deal with the issue will be wasted. While the money is being used for the aforementioned purposes, it does not appear the small sum of money set aside for dealing with this issue is enough to put together a realistic plan of action. If we are actually going to do something, anything, about illegal immigration, a much greater sum of money needs to be offered.

This political Band-Aid doesn?t deal with the problem at hand. Why open up a whole another issue that will obviously take more than a mere $1.9 billion and a few months to even begin to deal with? It makes no sense. To put the amount into context United Press International puts the amount the United States spends per month in Iraq at more than $5.8 billion ? or approximately $70 billion a year.

To date, Congress has put forth about $315 billion towards anti terror spending and the war in Iraq. The amount of money being diverted to increase patrols against illegal immigrants pales in comparison.

The illegal immigration problem deserves our full attention ? and full funding. Lets stick to solving one problem before dealing with another.