Border fence video goes viral

KVOA
January 7, 2011

TUCSON - The video is just 18 seconds long, but its implications, so much more.

Shot along the Arizona border in November by a young filmmaker, two women who are average in size and weight climbed to the top of the international border fence in less than 18 seconds.

Roy Germano is the filmmaker behind the YouTube video that has seen over 360,000 views.

He said he was exploring the immigration issue near the border with volunteers, when spontaneously, two of the women decided to climb the wall to see what would happen; and he caught it on camera.

"We were all extremely surprised that they were able to do it as quickly as they could," said Germano.

Germano made a feature film about immigration from the Mexico side and now from the U.S. side. where each mile of border fencing costs roughly 6.5 million dollars.

"Maybe a lot of money is being unnecessarily spent on something like the border fence when we could be thinking of more imaginative and effective ways to address the immigration issue," said Germano.

Border Patrol disagreed. The said they know the fence is climbable but there needs to be a proper mix including new technology and man power.

Patriots Border Alliance volunteer Bill Irwin acknowledged the problem at the border but said the video does not prove anything.

"The girls could do it because they're not carrying anything," said Irwin.

He said factor in exhaustion and gear weight and climbing the fence becomes a lot more difficult.

"A gallon of water weighs 8 pounds. They usually have 4 gallons and that's why you have all the litter out there," said Irwin.

"Why not put money into programs that help immigrants integrate and learn english or put money into helping regulate the flow so we can keep tabs on the people who are coming in," said Germano.

While Irwin said the border is dangerous and we need all the protection we can afford.

We also contacted the Department of Homeland Security who said they ca not verify the validity of the video and therefore were unable to comment

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