Build The Wall and ??

As someone who has personally stood on the southern border in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, I can attest to you that crossing the border is actually not that difficult.

I remember driving within clear sight of a Border Patrol jeep running along the fence line that marked the border between the U.S. and Mexico. I had lunch at a Mexican restaurant near San Ysidro and watched as someone crossed the border through the fence and raced across the highway to enter this country illegally.

Yes, that is what we have on the border. A fence. Hey, it has barbed wire - so that has got to stop people right?

Of course not! Simple tools and you can cut through the fence and simply go under it.

Then why do we have it at all? Simple.

We are a country that has borders that define the size of our country - but that would be way too simple of a geographic description. So, let's go a little deeper, shall we?

A country has borders to mark a clear distinction for anyone attempting to cross that border. You are entering a new place, with their own laws, traditions, and customs. You are coming to us - you need to abide by our rules. Borders are that symbolic line to mark that change.

But for a border fence to be in the condition that you see here, then you need to realize that there are going to be issues with illegal immigration.

When Reagan gave amnesty to the millions of illegal immigrants in 1986, he did not solve the problem. He made it worse by emboldening future illegal immigrants to do the same.

That is why future presidents - Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43, and Obama - all made speeches, campaign promises, and such to secure our border. But the reality is that they did not do any of the sort.

Then we have Trump and "Build the Wall."

As I said before, I have personally been at the border. I have seen the situation and the relative ease with which illegals can cross the border. Almost everyone has seen this news clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRAv-aQJ3Z0

Without secure borders, the wave of illegal immigration will continue to swell and then the system will be overwhelmed once again.

So, am I for the wall? Absolutely. Can "The Wall" work? Well...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BlD61vodZI

If US Special Forces cannot scale the wall with weeks to try, then I do like the prospect of it being a great idea.

But will it be enough. No.

The Wall would be the first line - but as you as saw in the second video clip - there needs to be Border Patrol to behind it to assess the situation as well. Then there are the issues of the tunnels that have been built crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S.

Trump needs to realize that "The Wall" is a great start - especially from a symbolic standpoint - but he would also need to deal with the tunnels that are used for smuggling, drugs, and weapons.

With the technology we have and "The Wall" being a better deterrent than a fence, the Border Patrol could allocate resources to finding these tunnels and caving them in.

It would be a simple maneuver with a low cost requirement and would set the drug cartels, smugglers back as they would have to rebuild the tunnel or build a new one. Then monitor the locations where the tunnels are emerging in the U.S. for activity and then repeat the process as often as necessary. (They could also use the tunnel to cave it in on the Mexico side of the border as well to really impede the process by basically forcing them to build a new one.)

Then there was something I read a few years back that absolutely infuriated me as an American.

Mexican Gangs Maintain Permanent Lookout Bases in Arizona

This is what amounts to an invasion of our country. If Mexican gangs can establish a base in our country, then what else can you call it? To say a wall would eliminate these bases is foolhardy at best. To say that the Border Patrol, CBP, and ICE officers could handle it is a probable response.

But, if I were in Trump's shoes, I would go for a more dramatic response. Knowing full well that these bases are heavily armed and manned with violent people - let the U.S. military use them as a training exercise if the gangs do not peacefully leave - and then leave the country.

One thing I do like about Trump being a businessman is it is about solutions - not politics. In this case, the solution starts with "The Wall" and needs to finish with real border security.