To Obama doing 5% of the border fence means that it is "basically complete"

"They wanted a fence. Well, that fence is now basically complete. . . . Maybe they'll say we need a moat. Or alligators in the moat. They'll never be satisfied." President Obama on May 10, 2011

Just 36.3 miles of the promised 700-mile double-layered fence along the 1951-mile southwest border has been completed. Remember that there were a lot of people concerned that the fence was only going to be 700 miles long to begin with.

The President attacks Republicans as the ones who are playing politics with the issue, that he has done everything that they asked for. From Obama's talk in El Paso:

So, we have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement. But even though we’ve answered these concerns, I suspect there will be those who will try to move the goal posts one more time. They’ll say we need to triple the border patrol. Or quadruple the border patrol. They’ll say we need a higher fence to support reform.

Maybe they’ll say we need a moat. Or alligators in the moat. They’ll never be satisfied. And I understand that. That’s politics. . . .