Our border-security dialogue has a gaping hole in it

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.

Trump is right. Holes in the wall can be fixed. I bet the same hardware store that sells power saws also has duct tape.

What will not be so easy to fix is the gigantic hole in America's border security dialogue. The issue isn't black and white. It's possible to want a secure border and still doubt that a giant wall will get the job done. And it's possible to oppose a border wall without being in favor of an open border.

Often, the folks who feel strongest about securing the U.S.-Mexico border live the farthest away from it. Visit a small town in Iowa, and you'll hear residents express concern about migrants and drug cartels. But talk to Texans who live in one of the towns that dot the border, and you'll hear them describe the Mexicans on the other side not as invaders but neighbors.

Another thing you'll find in those border towns is a healthy skepticism about whether Trump's border wall will ever materialize as advertised -- a seamless 12-feet-high barrier stretching along the nearly 2,000-mile corridor from San Diego, California, to Brownsville, Texas. Supposedly, the structure was going to seal the border tight as a drum and keep out the two things that Americans desire most from Mexico -- migrants and drugs.

As some of us have said all along, Trump's "big beautiful wall" is a foolish waste of money. The determined, downtrodden and desperate will get over, around, under or through any barrier we put up.

Americans need to get over the wall. We're in a war with smugglers, all right. But it's not medieval combat. It's a high-tech battle of wits. Instead of spending $25 billion on a border wall, we could get a greater return by spending half as much on censors, computers and other forms of electronic surveillance.

We need 21st-century solutions, not a symbolic throwback to the 12th century. While we're stuck in the past, smugglers only get stronger. Whatever barrier we put up, they will continue to charge their clients more for having to go to the trouble of getting past it. Someone has to pay for the power tools.

Meanwhile, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building -- which is next to the White House -- there was recently a Halloween party for administration officials and their children. It featured a station where children were encouraged to help "Build the Wall" with personalized bricks.

That story gave me an idea. Let's fire the contractors we have at the U.S.-Mexico border and get some of these kids down there to construct the real thing. It couldn't hurt. Because apparently, for smugglers, getting past Trump's big beautiful wall is child's play.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.