Does the Mexican border wall need to get built at all? That’s the big question that people are still asking. While there’s been a lot of discussion about the wall, particularly as it relates to federal appropriations needed to keep the government running.
The question is a stubborn and slightly hard-headed one. That is, if border crossings by illegal immigrants are down since President Trump took office, does the U.S. need to build the wall at all?
Very simply, border crossings in the first three months of 2017 ARE down from both the same period last year and from the last three months of the presidency of Barack Obama. However, the number of illegal crossings is still in the tens of thousands every month; it’s still a significant number that’s not the same as, or even in the ballpark of, zero.
Each and every illegal crossing represents a risk to the U.S. — a risk in terms of security (the person in question might be a criminal and possibly someone who was deported in the past), in terms of contraband entering the United States (if such a person is smuggling drugs) and in terms of possible effects on American workers (if a person ends up taking a job away from an American citizen). And these are just the biggest risks; there are many others additionally.
A wall is not the same thing as a legal or a psychological deterrent; it’s a physical barrier. Once erected, it will be a permanent obstruction to those seeking to enter our country by illicit means. Watch as Press Secretary Sean Spicer explains why President Trump is still insistent that America needs a border wall.