When is a border fence not a fence?

When it's an unfunded election year stunt.

While the new law authorizes 700 miles of double-layered fencing, among other measures, it does not include funding for the project. A separate $34.8 billion homeland security spending bill signed earlier this month includes $1.2 billion -- described as a "down payment" -- for various installations including the fence. The fence alone, stretching across parts of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, is estimated to cost at least $6 billion to build.

Shortly after passing the Secure Fence Act, lawmakers practically ensured that the fence would never be built as advertised when they passed the spending bill, Washington Post staff writer Spencer S. Hsu reported.