Supporters of increased border enforcement now can help Arizona build its own fence along the Mexico border. The bill also created the Joint Border Security Advisory Committee for oversight and accountability of these funds (100% of the funds raised will be held in a trust fund account in the Arizona State Treasurer's Office). Additionally, in an effort to contain costs, inmate labor will be utilized in the construction of the border fence project. As of the effective date of this bill, July 20, 2011, only approximately 685 miles of the nearly 2,000 mile long border between the United States and Mexico is "fenced." The approximately 1,315 remaining miles of the border currently have no fencing at all. According to a 2009 U.S. Government Accountability Office report, it has cost the federal government about $3 million a mile to build the type of fence that would keep pedestrians out. Text Size - 
 
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 “This is not an Arizona problem, this is an American problem,” Smith told POLITICO in an interview.
– Arizona's message to the feds: Forget you guys, we're building our own fence. Thanks to new legislation, the state is taking illegal immigration into its own hands and is now accepting private donations to build a wall at the Mexican border. Lawmakers have set up a website where anyone can contribute to help raise the estimated $50 million needed, reports the Arizona Republic. "Donate to the country's security," said state Sen. Steve Smith, who sponsored the legislation. "This is an American problem, not an Arizona problem." The leader of the National Immigration Forum thinks it's a lousy idea. “Spending on a fence is bad public policy,” Ali Noorani tells Politico. ”The mechanics of this are very murky. The data proves that a wall is a waste of money."