McRocket
Gold Member
- Apr 4, 2018
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- #81
Where are you getting that from?Come on RW, you're smart enough to know that if you intensify screening at the ports-of-entry, the cartels will use tunnels, planes, boats, or horses to smuggle drugs in. The solution has to be an "all of the above". My brother was in the AF on the southern border, and said that radar could track all the drug planes coming over, but were not allowed to coordinate with DEA or local police.
Also, the wall isn't just about drug smuggling, its also about human trafficking as well as stopping the flood of migrants and MS-13 members coming up by the thousands in cartel promoted caravans.
Most illegals come in through either ports of entry or through legally-acquired, expired visa's...NOT through scurrying through the border in the middle of nowhere. It's common knowledge to anyone that bothers to read about it.
Most illegal immigration doesn't come through the Mexican border where Trump wants to build a wall
The 2,000 Mile Wall in Search of a Purpose: Since 2007 Visa Overstays have Outnumbered Undocumented Border Crossers by a Half Million - The Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS)
Besides, Trump's fence is a joke if he thinks that thing is going to keep anyone remotely determined out. I would guess a welding/cutting torch and less than 30 minutes will make mince meat of his latest joke of a 'wall'.
And why is Trump not calling for FAR tougher sentences for those who hire illegals? That is a cheap and easy way to discourage illegals.
The answer is obvious - lots of Reps hire LOTS of illegals.
1. Your point that visa overstays outnumber illegal border crossers is correct but misleading. They are BOTH about 400,000 per year. So Congress needs to address BOTH problems.
From my second above link:
'Overstays accounted for about two-thirds (66 percent) of those who arrived (i.e., joined the undocumented population) in 2014.'
Sorry,IMO, they do not DARE go against what Trump is asking for. Their jobs depend on toeing the company line. I don't believe ANYTHING from ANY active government bureaucrat about supporting government policy. EVER.2. The wall works, please read the link below. The Border Patrol are the only EXPERTS in this matter.
Border Patrol Makes Its Case For An Expanded 'Border Barrier'
Plus, I am not saying that a border wall is a bad idea - quite the opposite. My point is that this is ALL Trump is talking about. He has said NOTHING (that I have heard) about heavier fines/jail time for those who hire illegals. He has not mentioned much (if at all) about curbing illegals coming in on legal visa's. All he talks about his is wall...AND THE WALL ALONE WILL NOT EVEN STOP 1/3 OF ALL ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. That is a fact (as shown by my link above).
Sorry, not buying it. Where is you link that says that every, single foot of the border is monitored by camera? And even if it were, then how could tons of drugs - every day - be coming over it unnoticed?3. If anyone tries to cut thru the wall video cameras will notify Border Patrol
If border patrol cannot stop waves of people coming in that they see - then obviously spending a few minutes to cut/explode a section of the wall and flood through it is no biggie.
You do not know that he feels that way - no one does but him. And please show me ONE major speech where he even says it? I don't recall him EVER mentioning it (though I might have missed it). And why is he not tweeting about it all the time? And the Reps had Congress for two years - why did they not do anything about it then? Why did Trump not ask them to over and over? Surely, that kind of legislation (Law and Order President) both he and the Reps would have been all for (in theory).4. The dems in Congress need to revise the immigration laws to make sentences tougher, not Trump. He would gladly support that effort.
1. True that the 2017 data has 2/3 overstays, 1/3 crossers, but from the chart below for 2018 it looks like the illegal crossers will be larger based on pro-rating the early data, adding the fact that caravans are now imposing a new load of migrants.
2. We agree on the border wall with added enforcement options. Waiting for the dems to put them on the funding table. Trump cannot revise existing law regarding overstays. p.s. even the Obama admin border chief supports the new wall.
'Do It All, Including the Wall': Obama-Era Border Chief Hits Back at 'Absurd' Border Wall Arguments
3. The dems keep whining about new technology like satellites and drones. I'm suggesting that the wall will need to be monitored. Its not that expensive. The cameras can see a long way.
I respect your ideas on this. I sense we want the same things but in different ways.
But my point is that Trump is single-minded on this.
He has not even called for tougher laws against those who employ illegals (that I recall). I have never heard him EVER mention it. Not even in a tweet.
This is what he should be doing - especially when the Reps controlled both houses.
Nor has he talked much (if at all) about illegals overstaying their legal visa's.
It is clear that he (and his supporters) fell in love with the wall and are ignoring the real problems (and the one's that are FAR easier to tackle). Plus, Reps CLEARLY do not want larger penalties on those who hire illegals because LOTS of Reps do just that.
I give the Dem's in Washington little credit either as I do not believe for one second that they are not using this shutdown for political gain. They have Trump against the political ropes - and they are not letting up.
Were it up to me - bring down VERY hard penalties/jail sentences to those who hire illegals, end ALL government benefits for illegals AND end ALL quotas for allowing migrants to temporarily work in America. And, if all the above failed, THEN I would be for building an Israeli-style wall along the southern border.
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