So many illegal immigrants have crossed our southern border that both Republicans and Democrats now claim that they have a plan that will “secure the border.” But there is a difference. Republicans want to complete the wall that President Trump started to build, and Democrats have hindered and blocked the border wall again and again. After four years under Trump and nearly four years under Biden, it should be clear that Republicans will actually close the border and Democrats will not.
The wall works
Some videos on YouTube show one man cutting through a section of border wall and another man climbing over the wall with a long ladder. Viewers might conclude that “walls do not work” and are a “waste of money.” One opponent said, “If you build a 30-foot wall, they will bring a 31-foot ladder.”
But these objections need to be more convincing.
President Trump successfully built about 458 miles of new, highly effective border wall made of steel bollards placed closely together. The six-inch square bollards are hollow pipes mostly 30 feet tall (18 feet in a few places). They are placed 4 inches apart, which allows border patrol agents to see what is happening on the other side. They are made of 3/16-inch steel, and in the bottom 10 feet of each bollard, they are filled with concrete and rebar. They have a foundation that extends between six and 10 feet underground, and fiber-optic cable is planted in the ground to detect digging. Another 250 miles of this kind of wall still needs to be built.
Opponents say the bollards can be cut through with modern power equipment, which I do not deny. However, cutting through steel, concrete, and rebar is difficult, noisy, and time-consuming, requiring from 20 minutes to one hour for one bollard. This is enough time for border patrol agents to arrest the intruders for damaging government property, and any damage can be quickly repaired.
But can US border agents arrest people on the other side of the wall? Yes. The border wall is not built exactly on the border but on US land just inside the border. There is a strip of land on the Mexican side of the border wall that is still United States territory, and border patrol agents have the authority to make arrests there. It might also be possible to negotiate an agreement with Mexico to allow US agents to pursue the intruders for a short distance into Mexican territory.
Once an intruder is arrested, if we simply return him to Mexico that leaves him free to buy more power tools and try the same approach the next day. But there is a better option: if he is charged with the crime of damaging U.S. government property and tried for that crime, he can be punished with a fine and/or imprisonment. And if word gets out that immigrants who try to cut through the wall are being arrested and possibly sentenced to significant prison terms in the United States, most attempts to cut through the wall will end.
Then what about individuals who use a ladder to climb over the wall? First, a 30-foot-high wall is a daunting obstacle, and getting down on the other side would be both difficult and dangerous. In addition, whether someone enters by climbing over the wall or by squeezing through a 14 inch breach in the wall, they can only come one at a time, not 500-1000 at a time as they could across an open field. The ladder can be quickly confiscated by border agents and the individual wall climbers can be immediately deported.
When Republicans are able to complete such a wall, coupled with motion detectors, lighting, cameras, underground tunnel detectors, and aerial surveillance with drones, it will effectively secure the border against pedestrian entrance.
Other benefits: clear symbolism and an increased sense of safety
A completed wall would also send a strong visual message – a symbol– that people wanting to come to the United States will not be allowed to do so illegally, but must make an application that complies with the law. They must wait their turn, as millions of others have already done.
And if the wall is completed, it would eventually give another benefit. We would gradually begin to experience once again a reduction in fear and an increased sense of peace and security within the United States.
Speaking as a professor who has taught Christian ethics for 47 years, I find it interesting that the people of Israel long ago recognized that a strong city wall gave people a sense of peace and security, a feeling that they were being protected from those who would harm them. One prayer of blessing for Jerusalem was, “Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!” (Psalm 122:7). In addition, rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem is a major theme of the entire book of Nehemiah. In fact,........