The government shutdown and the fight over the border wall funding is an interesting topic to take up for the day. On the surface, it seems the driving force to not appropriate funding is the attitude to do anything and everything to prevent President Trump from delivering on a campaign promise. It also raises the question of, “Who will actually pay for it? Mexico? Or us?” – which has been continually touted in the media as a change in story from the President, to now shift it to the taxpayers. We all knew that Mexico wasn’t ever going to write a check… However, dating all the way back to 2015, Candidate Trump expressed that outside of Mexico writing that check, money would come from avenues associated with increases in visa fees and border crossing cards (millions of these are still issued per year), NAFTA worker visas, decreases in US aid to Mexico (estimated in 2018 to be between $320M-$338M, of which at least $86M was just cash), and better trade deals through an improved or redesigned NAFTA (now the USMCA agreement). Note the trade deficit under NAFTA was $71B (goods) in 2016 – although Mexico internally reported that deficit to be over $132B in their favor.
But let’s put all the politics aside for a moment and just focus on fun facts. In my many years in Emergency Services, including heading 2 agencies, I have several friends that have served in border protection roles. While I have never strapped on the gun and carried the rifle and patrolled our border in the middle of the night, with their closest cover car sometimes 60 min or more out, they have. So, my mid-continent suburban dwelling friends that see this problem through a lens of filtered information and really no direct experience, I would invite you to learn the use of those weapons, strap them on, and spend a month with a partner on a border patrol detail in any of the 9 sectors from Texas to California – to see what dangers they face, and what they encounter… each shift. Here are some fact highlights – not political rhetoric (look them up – I will help if you like).
On a typical day, CBP does the following (2019):
- Conducted 851 apprehensions BETWEEN U.S. ports of entry. On patrol, along the border.
- Identified 1,607 individuals with suspected national security concerns at ports of entry
- Seizes 5,863 pounds of narcotics
- Deploys more than 1,501 canine teams and 375 horse patrols
Overall apprehensions this year have been interesting, too. In November, 51,856 people were apprehended between ports of entry on the Southwest Border, compared with 51,001 in the month of October. In FY18, a total of 396,579 individuals were apprehended between ports of entry on our Southwest Border.
- Over 460,000 lbs of drugs were seized (a mix of Cocaine, Heroin, Marijuana, Methamphetamine, Fentanyl). Those numbers are, interestingly, almost half of 2017 numbers – mostly driven by Marijuana legalization. But Meth and Fentanyl are actually rising.
- Of the approx. 31 gangs being tracked by Border Protection agents (nationwide, since most of them enter in uncaptured), over 730 have been apprehended this year, and almost 380 of those are MS-13.
So, let’s talk about the border and what’s there now. The border is 1,969 miles long. Roughly 1/3 of that is fenced, double-fenced, or walled. The rest is not. Some natural barriers do exist, but most of the remaining miles are unprotected – equating to over 1,000 miles. Put that into perspective: We have no border barriers, just overworked agents, covering territory from Denver to Indianapolis, often on horseback. A survey conducted by the National Border Patrol Council found that 89% of border patrol agents said a “wall system in strategic locations is necessary to securing the border.” 7% of agents disagreed.
Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama (and Eisenhower and Kennedy and..) have all favored much tougher border enforcement. They did not call it a wall or steel slats, or whatever the PC word is today. However, in 2006, President Bush signed into law the Secure Fence Act of 2006. This was passed in the senate, 80-19, with Yea votes from Schumer, Obama, Clinton, and Feinstein. It was to construct 600 miles of fencing, among other items (including drones, surveillance, etc.) As of January 2010, the fence project had been (mostly) completed from San Diego, California to Yuma, Arizona. From there it continued in sections into Texas and consisted of a fence that was 21 feet (6.4 m) tall and 6 feet (1.8 m) deep in the ground, cemented in a 3-foot (0.91 m)-wide trench with 5,000 psi (345 bar; 352 kg/cm²) concrete. There were no fatalities during construction, but there were 4 serious injuries with multiple aggressive acts against building crews. There was one reported shooting with no injury to a crew member in one region. All fence sections are south of the All-American Canal, and have access roads giving border guards the ability to reach any point easily, including the dunes area where a border agent was killed 3 years prior and is now sealed off. Oh – and the technology package that was part of the act (Boeing – SBI) was discontinued for being too glitchy, way behind, and way over budget.
Suffice it to say the overall fencing that exists today is really just a mixture: There is currently quite a bit of fencing along the southern border thanks in large part to the Secure Fence Act of 2006. But it is of various types, roughly divided between “pedestrian fencing” — designed to stop foot traffic — and the less substantial “vehicle” fencing, which is designed to stop vehicles but can be walked through with ease.
The big question comes down to this: Do walls work? Good question, and there are varied answers. Short sections of walls have proved effective at decreasing movement across international borders. This was demonstrated in the 1990s on the U.S.-Mexico border when the first sections of fencing were built in El Paso and near San Diego, supported by large deployments of Border Patrol agents. In the weeks that followed, crossings in those sectors dropped to almost zero. Similarly, the construction of Hungary’s border fence in 2015 was backed up with border guards, and consequently, crossings dropped substantially. In short, a wall isn’t THE solution, but it can be easily argued to be part of the overall solution package. Since WWII (where 2 countries had walls) there has been a jump to over 70 countries with walls erected. And the US funded several of those!
If we remove the politics, and look at the situation that is real and a danger every day on the border, and also understand that immigration reform needs to happen and we absolutely need to keep admitting legal-visa’d workers (in the millions annually) into the US, securing the border really must be part of that conversation, shouldn’t it?
