From the Right

/

Politics

Our border-security dialogue has a gaping hole in it

Ruben Navarrette Jr. on

SAN DIEGO -- Donald Trump's border wall: $10 billion to $25 billion. Cordless power saw: $100. Reports that human traffickers have cut through the wall like toy scissors through crepe paper: Priceless.

My friends joke that what MAGA really stands for is: "Migrants Always Get Across." They may be onto something. Migrants are natural problem solvers.

A new border barrier is just another problem to solve. In 2019, the Trump administration completed a mere 76 miles of new border wall, according to acting Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner Mark Morgan.

A recent article in The Washington Post suggests that, even in its infancy, Trump's border wall isn't so daunting. Smugglers have repeatedly sawed through sections using nothing more sophisticated than a cordless reciprocating saw that is widely available to the public for about $100.

For those on a budget, there are also reports of smugglers using makeshift ladders to scale the border barrier.

Ladders? You don't say? Who could have predicted that?

 

Although he bragged that the border wall was impossible to get past, Trump didn't seem all that surprised to learn that his supposedly impenetrable barrier was quite penetrable.

"You can cut through any wall," Trump said matter-of-factly to reporters at the White House. "We have a very powerful wall. But no matter how powerful, you can cut through anything, in all fairness. But we have a lot of people watching. You know cutting is one thing, but it's easily fixed."

Dating back to his days in the world of New York real estate, Trump has always been a slippery salesman. But as president, he's slipperier than ever. He didn't say what he said. He didn't promise what he promised.

And the border wall he pitched to voters -- the one with the bells and whistles -- isn't the one that we wound up with.

...continued

swipe to next page

 

 

Comics

Christopher Weyant David Fitzsimmons Bill Bramhall Jimmy Margulies Al Goodwyn Mike Smith