Friend of mine brought a very valid point that I had not thought of. Trump said he wants a wall, he never said what kind of wall. Block wall, human wall, guard towers....... There is a very simple and not nearly as costly solution to the problem of border jumpers. Set up guard towers (only cost and employing the American people) and have AMERICAN people volunteer. We use our weapons, our ammo, our time, and secure our borders. The line of volunteer's will be out the door and the issue will be resolved. No 2nd chances, no being deported a dozen times, just one shot, one kill. Maybe then these people will think twice. If not, that's ok, vultures need to eat too.
I seriously doubt the American public is ready to condone guard towers and the shooting of illegal border crossers. If they were, the American version of the Berlin Wall would have been in place a long time ago, complete with minefields and bunkers.
Ask anyone who actually works on the border: Trump's wall is simply pandering to his base, who have no idea how to stop illegal immigration. They just know they don't like it and will seize on any perceived "solution."
I started working for the federal government in 1995, working for the now-defunct Immigration and Naturalization Service. I later worked for other agencies that had a nexus to the INS mission, so I've worked on the border, hand-in-hand with the Border Patrol, been on worksite enforcement raids, etc.
The consensus among people I know is that the idea of a wall doing anything other than lulling people into a false sense of security is ludicrous. There are fences and walls now, and people go over, under and around them, come in vehicles, on planes, etc.
They keep coming because - despite the physical barriers that exist - U.S. employers still hire them. Yes, there are penalties for hiring illegals, but they are rarely enforced. Why? Because the people who own the larger illegal-hiring companies make big contributions to their elected representatives. And while those representatives will readily pony up money for more agents, talk tough about stemming the flow of illegal immigrants, and now blather on about some magical wall, what they WON'T do is bite the hand that feeds them with political contributions. Ironically, these are mainly republicans, who have always talked the talk regarding illegal immigration but have yet to walk the walk.
Moreover, even if they were to hold the employers' feet to the fire, the law is not about strict liability. Meaning if you're caught hiring illegals, all you have to do is claim you didn't know and there's no case, regardless of how stunningly-obvious the violation may be. I've seen HR directors at meat-packing plants in the Midwest claim not to know that Pedro was illegal - despite the fact that he spoke no English and had a fake SS card that looked like it was drawn with a crayon.
Take money (in the from of political contributions) out of the equation and make the enablers accountable. Then revise the the law, but actually enforce it.
And with that said, we're a country of immigrants. So create an easier path for people who actually want to come here - one that allows them to contribute, stay off public assistance, not be a burden, and assimilate. And despite the obvious leanings of our current administration, make it applicable to
everyone and not just white people from Norway (?). We'll still get a few bad apples, but I predict that by and large, we'll end up with a lot of hardworking taxpayers who appreciate the home this country has given them. Everything else is just bluster, in my opinion, and too many people can't see past it.
