It no doubt feels like a real slam dunk for President Trump’s opponents to point out that he’s done very little in terms of completing his “wall” on the southern border, but consider this: Of the nearly 700,000 undocumented foreigners apprehended at the border so far this year, about 525,000 of them will almost certainly have been turned loose into the country. No “wall” would have prevented that.
The Drudge Report on Monday blared a Washington Examiner story that said the Trump administration has yet to build “a single mile of new border fence” during this entire term in office.
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The story by my fantastic colleague Anna Giaritelli is 100% accurate and yet, again, 75% of the people who crossed in to the U.S. illegally this year are now here for an indefinite stay, and that’s not because a wall wasn’t there to stop them. Some of them may have even encountered pieces of wall when they arrived in South Texas, which is where the vast majority of them cross. But by that point, they will have already been on American soil for up to an hour searching for a Border Patrol agent so that they could seek asylum.
The construction of more “wall” is important. I went to McAllen, Texas, earlier this year and border agents there told me that areas where they’ve built “wall,” 30-ish feet of concrete and steel bollard fence, are more controlled and more easily managed.
Wherever the Trump administration can build more of that, they should and they have started. In February, the Border Patrol began clearing out thick brush so that six miles of new wall could be built. That’s a process that takes time, especially when navigating federally protected land, private farmland, and a massive natural inconvenience called the Rio Grande.
Trump also deserves credit for, yes, replacing existing “barrier” with “wall.” In New Mexico, there was already 20 miles of Normandy fencing in place, but that was in place solely to prevent the passage of vehicles. They’re only about five feet high and easily breached by anyone who hops over them. The new “wall” was more steel bollard that reaches up another 25 feet.
You can say that doesn’t count if you want, and you would look stupid. If I tear down a trailer and build a two-story brick house, that’s technically a “replacement” home. But at least it now doesn’t rely on prayers to remain standing in the event of a nasty thunderstorm.
It can’t be repeated often enough, though: No wall, no matter how big or thick, would have prevented 75% of 700,000 undocumented foreigners from remaining legally in the U.S. once they crossed the border.
The undocumented who come to or across our border and claim asylum have protection to stay, sometimes for up to five years before they have a court hearing. About half of them or more don’t show up for their court date. Illegal immigrants with small children, most of whom are from Central America some 2,000 miles away, are also given a lot of protection to remain in the U.S. Unaccompanied minors get the same protections.
Here’s how the Border Patrol apprehension numbers break down for this year so far: 64,000 were unaccompanied minors and 390,000 were individuals who came in family units, which are defined as a child or children along with their parent or parents.
Merely 234,000 apprehensions were of single adults, the vast majority of whom were young males. That is what our system was set up to do: catch single males crossing the border illegally and then return them home, which was usually Mexico.
Walls are desperately needed. But they won’t fix the worst part of the immigration problem.
