BUYING OFF THE NATIVISTS DOESN'T COME CHEAP:

At least $800M spent for 53-mile border fence (SUZANNE GAMBOA, 6/17/10, Associated Press)

Taxpayers have shelled out at least $15.1 million per mile for 53 miles of "virtual fence" built to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, more than 12 times the original estimate.

The federal government set aside $833 million for the fence of cameras, sensors and other barriers in 2007, and the vast majority of that money, at least $800 million, has been spent on a sliver, in Arizona, of the nearly 2,000-mile southern border. About $20.9 million has been used on the northern border.