House Moves to Banish Illegal Immigration

The House called for construction of a fence along parts of the U.S. border from the Pacific Coast to the Gulf of Mexico as a bill aimed at shutting down illegal immigration moved forward Thursday.

The two-layered fence, about 700 miles long, would be built in parts of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The provisions, passed 260-159, put priority on construction near Laredo, Texas. The city is across the border from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, where warring drug cartels have been blamed for more than 140 murders this year.

Supporters said the fence would cut down on crime and drug smuggling, but Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (news, bio, voting record), D-Texas, said it would create "the largest gated community in the Western hemisphere."

The House voted 220-206 to approve a parliamentary measure needed to move ahead on the bill, but only after GOP leaders appealed in a private meeting for party unity. Some members were threatening to vote against the bill if it did not include a guest worker program, while others opposed adding such a program.

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