We're talking about the border wall in the wrong way

Ruben Navarrette Jr. on May 3, 2017

Also, even if a wall does go up, it won't do much to stop the flow of illegal immigrants. In the last few years, that flow has become a trickle as the economy in Mexico has improved and the human smugglers have raised their prices. The Trump wall is irrelevant before it's even built, given an existing and sophisticated network of underground tunnels.

This could explain why -- in my conversations with Border Patrol supervisors and rank-and-file agents -- they tend to ask for tunnel-detection equipment and not for walls. They also want better roads to make it easier to apprehend border crossers, and the latest technology to help them win what is a battle of wits with smuggling cartels. And for their own safety, they would rather not contend with 20-foot-high walls they can't see through or around.

But what do these experts know? They just walk the line every day.

Lastly, a wall could make the problem worse by "penning in" many of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants on this side of the border. Many of them have been separated from their families for so long that they consider it normal. They won't go home for a visit -- at Christmas or Mother's Day -- because they're afraid they won't be able to get back unless they pay a smuggler's new and exorbitant "Donald Trump rate." So they stay here, put down roots, and never leave.

Guess what, Mr. President. It's not just health care, Syria and North Korea. Who knew a border wall could be so complicated?

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.