Border wall controversy

Posted: Feb 19, 2016 5:15 PM PST
Updated: Feb 19, 2016 6:29 PM PST
By Steve Bosh

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) - When Donald Trump entered the presidential campaign, his first campaign ad focused on immigration.

It called for a ban on Muslim immigration and building a wall at the Mexican border.

Right now, the only wall that's up is the one between Trump and the Pope.

The Pope is taking some heat for injecting himself into America's immigration politics.

Some of the most heated exchanges among the candidates have been about illegal immigration.

But is Trump's wall the answer?

"If you're committed enough, just like an assassin, if you're committed enough you are going to get the job done and that comes down to illegal immigration. If you are willing enough to pay enough and try enough times you're gonna get through the border," said Shawn Moran of the Border Patrol Union.

Agent Moran is head of the Border Patrol's 18 thousand-member union.

He said a fence, or wall is a temporary solution that focuses on the symptom, not the problem.

"The problem resides in Washington D.C. and I think most Americans would be appalled if they knew just how vulnerable we were on our borders," Agent Moran said.

Agent Moran said the central problem is the hiring of illegals by business and citizens which the politicians continually fail to address.

"If you know, as an illegal alien, that you cannot come to this country and find work you're not going to come," Agent Moran said.

A wall or a fence is a barrier that takes effort to get over or through, slowing down individuals or vehicles.

"We've always said you build a 20-foot fence the smuggling organizations or people are gonna build a 21-foot ladder and what it does is slow them down, gives the opportunity for border patrol agents to respond and hopefully apprehend them or deter them and send them back into Mexico," Agent Moran added.

Agent Moran said the job is not only about keeping people out or arresting people. He said his agents have been portrayed by some groups in a very negative light but the border patrol is the largest humanitarian organization on the border.

"We have a world class search and rescue team in every sector. We'll do whatever it takes to make sure whoever is lost, whether its a U.S. citizen or an illegal alien that's crossed the border is rescued and taken care of," he said.

To these men and women, border security has to go hand in hand with immigration enforcement in the interior.

"If you have a policy where agents can actually exercise their authority and do their job and we have the political will to do that, we can be very effective in terms of border security and immigration enforcement," Agent Moran added.

Agent Moran said if the government cracked down on illegal hiring, the agents could concentrate their efforts on the bad actors trying to cross the border.

http://www.kusi.com/story/31268621/b...ll-controversy