I have no firm opinion of George W. Bush's plans to seal our borders from invading aliens. My suspicion — and this has little to do with Bush or the present administration — is that it's one of those problems that cannot be effectively eliminated. You can put on a show and make it look like you're making a dent in the situation. You can force the violators to take the long way around and not be so visible once they're here. You can even make a few busts, publicize the hell out of them and juggle statistics to argue you're making real progress. That's how "The Drug Problem" has been fought at times, appeasing political constituencies without actually doing much.
I guess I have the feeling that if the Gonzales family in El Salvador wants to live in America badly enough to pick grapes for six bucks an hour — and if some grape growers in the San Joaquin Valley want to pay no more than that to get their crops harvested — a little thing like the National Guard won't keep them apart. Especially since the National Guard is already being strained to the breaking point and this administration ain't so great on the follow-through.