If Trump gets wall money, nearly half of border could be covered by barriers by 2027
If Trump gets wall money, nearly half of border could be covered by barriers by 2027
by Stephen Loiaconi
Thursday, January 10th 2019
WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) — President Donald Trump traveled to McAllen, Texas Thursday to visit a sector of the southern border that officials say is not sufficiently protected by physical barriers, but some expert say the administration’s focus on walls and fences is addressing a symptom of the forces driving illegal immigration rather than the root causes.
The current partial government shutdown is the result of a standoff between Trump and congressional Democrats over $5.7 billion that would fund construction of new barriers across just over 10 percent of the 2,000-mile southern border, mostly in the Rio Grande Valley area where apprehensions have spiked in recent years.
More than one-third of the border is already protected by some sort of barrier, much of it built after Congress passed legislation to fund fencing over a decade ago. The Trump administration has argued much of this fencing is inadequate and needs to be replaced or repaired.
“Fences are symbolic,” said Kenneth Madsen, an associate professor of geography at Ohio State University who has extensively studied existing and proposed border barriers. “It’s a symbol by politicians to say, ‘We’re doing something’ You have something tangible you can point to and say, ‘Look.’”
The Secure Fence Act of 2006 was intended to give Customs and Border Patrol operational control of the border. The legislation identified several specific stretches of the border to be fenced off:
- extending from 10 miles west of the Tecate, California, port of entry to 10 miles east of the Tecate, California, port of entry;
- extending from 10 miles west of the Calexico, California, port of entry to 5 miles east of the Douglas, Arizona, port of entry;
- extending from 5 miles west of the Columbus, New Mexico, port of entry to 10 miles east of El Paso, Texas;
- extending from 5 miles northwest of the Del Rio, Texas, port of entry to 5 miles southeast of the Eagle Pass, Texas, port of entry;
- extending 15 miles northwest of the Laredo, Texas, port of entry to the Brownsville, Texas, port of entry.
In 2008, appropriations legislation called for barriers to be built along at least 700 miles of the border “where fencing would be most practical and effective.” At the time, DHS estimated that could encompass up to 850 miles.
Ultimately, just over 650 miles of fencing, including about 300 miles of vehicle barriers and 350 miles of pedestrian barriers, were built. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano argued that fulfilled the requirements of the 2008 appropriations.
CRS Barriers Along the Bord... by on Scribd
According to Isacson, there are populated areas in the Rio Grande Valley sector where Border Patrol officials have called for more barriers, and they might be effective there if the government got permission to build them.
“That is a rational discussion we could all be having, and one of the most controversial parts of that discussion is that’s mostly private property there,” he said.
Congress appropriated smaller amounts of money in 2017 and 2018 for border security barriers, and lawmakers placed restrictions on how the funds could be used. As a result, the money has mainly gone to replacing and strengthening existing stretches of fencing using previously-approved designs.
The Trump administration has commissioned several new prototypes for walls constructed from concrete and other materials. The request for those proposal included several conditions to prevent breaching, scaling, and digging while remaining cost-effective to construct, maintain, and repair.
Democrats say the situation at the border is not nearly as dire as Trump says, and a wall would not rectify the problems that do exist.
“Besides what the President’s own terrible policies have created, there is simply NO emergency at the border. A wall is not the solution to the crime and tragedy he describes. A wall will not stop the flow of illegal drugs he talks about, which overwhelmingly come through legal ports of entry. A wall is ineffective and a waste of taxpayer dollars,” said Adam Comis, spokesman for House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., in a statement Thursday.
Again, Trump administration officials disagree with that assessment.
July 2018 GAO Border Wall R... by on Scribd
Isacson is skeptical it would be that simple because the people currently trying to enter the U.S. illegally are often fleeing violence in their home country, and they want to be taken into custody so they can legally apply for asylum.
“It might deter single adult economic migrants,” he said, noting that their apprehension levels are already at the lowest since the late 1960s. “Somebody with kids or somebody who doesn’t feel safe in their country, they want to get caught.”
https://valleycentral.com/news/natio...rriers-by-2027
