Australian model: Sure, but....

Submitted by JB Tant (United States), Apr 5, 2005 at 14:21

The Australian model is a good one. (I agree strongly with Mr. Johanson's final paragraph.) However, there's a slight difference between Australian geography and that of the USA. In dry season, there are times you can just about step over the Rio Grande (okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point.) Nobody's gonna ride a burro (or a panel van) into Australia!

You can follow model policies until the cows (or burros) come home... without enforcement it will all be for naught. There's a lot of (a) virtually unmonitored border, (b) incentive to "chance it" and (c) turning the eyes south of our border. Until those things are dealt with, policies written on paper "aren't worth the paper they're written on."

Follow the Australian model ... just know that the "controls" of which Mr. Johanson spoke are going to take both the political will and US$.

jbt

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