Today President Bush signed legislation legalizing 700 miles of new fencing along the porous Mexican border to complement the meager 90 miles of fencing already present. The bill also authorizes an additional 1500 border patrol troops.

At the bill signing, the President urged Congress to find a solution for illegal aliens already in the country, namely by pushing his guestworker plan. “We must reduce pressure on our border by creating a temporary worker plan,” Bush remarked. “Willing workers ought to be matched with willing employers to do jobs Americans are not doing.”

Back home, citizens along the Texas border aren’t sure what to think yet. Large sections of the fencing will cut through residential and agricultural areas, cutting off access to the Rio Grande River, which farmers depend on. “It’s not going to work in Texas,” says ranch-owner Michael Vickers. “Who wants to close off the river to Mexico? The river is the lifeblood for a lot of cities.”

Cost estimates range from $2 billion to $9 billion over the next several years. The entire Homeland Security budget for this year was only $1.2 billion, which means Congress will have to appropriate more and more funds as the project progresses.