Instead of asking who is responsible for the shutdown, the question that should be asked is what in the hell is a wall going to do anyway. I find it hilarious that anyone thinks a wall will have any significant effect. There is already 600 miles of physical barrier, some of it double fencing, through the most populous areas of the border and yet that is also where the most smuggling drugs and illegals come though. It is contraband hidden in cars, trucks, and loads. It is people walking or driving through border inspection points and simply not leaving that accounts for most illegal immigration.
Walls may keep out an individual or family, but is nothing to a sophisticated smuggling operation of drugs or guns or people. Between 1990 and 2016 the US found and destroyed 224 tunnels UNDER existing border walls; some of them being used to bring MULTI-TON shipments of drugs across the border at a time. And how many tunnels have not been found?
Between 2007 and 2016, in just the 14 mile strip between Egypt and Gaza, the Egyptian army found and destroyed 1659 tunnels, some over a km long bringing in everything from food to fuel to people. It was estimated it would take 80 years to rebuild the 6000 structures destroyed by Israel bombing based on the amount of building material allowed in through checkpoints on the border. In fact, it only took 5 years because of the incredible amount of building material smuggled in through tunnes. In 2013, it was estimated 1 million litres of fuel per day alone was coming through tunnels into Gaza.
What a waste of money building a physical barrier to stop things and people that will still come under (tunnels), over (airplanes), around, (pacific and Atlantic coasts) or through official border crossing (smuggled, hidden, or under arriving under false pretenses).
Forget the wall. What is needed is satellite sensing, drones, and personnel; and not just at unfenced areas, but at crossing with existing barriers. And democrats are all for that. But Trump would not get his vanity "great wall of trump" so HE refuses to negotiate.
Walls may keep out an individual or family, but is nothing to a sophisticated smuggling operation of drugs or guns or people. Between 1990 and 2016 the US found and destroyed 224 tunnels UNDER existing border walls; some of them being used to bring MULTI-TON shipments of drugs across the border at a time. And how many tunnels have not been found?
Between 2007 and 2016, in just the 14 mile strip between Egypt and Gaza, the Egyptian army found and destroyed 1659 tunnels, some over a km long bringing in everything from food to fuel to people. It was estimated it would take 80 years to rebuild the 6000 structures destroyed by Israel bombing based on the amount of building material allowed in through checkpoints on the border. In fact, it only took 5 years because of the incredible amount of building material smuggled in through tunnes. In 2013, it was estimated 1 million litres of fuel per day alone was coming through tunnels into Gaza.
What a waste of money building a physical barrier to stop things and people that will still come under (tunnels), over (airplanes), around, (pacific and Atlantic coasts) or through official border crossing (smuggled, hidden, or under arriving under false pretenses).
Forget the wall. What is needed is satellite sensing, drones, and personnel; and not just at unfenced areas, but at crossing with existing barriers. And democrats are all for that. But Trump would not get his vanity "great wall of trump" so HE refuses to negotiate.
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