A Wall Isn’t Enough

The Quote Below—More Misinformation from the Media

“The most harrowing story I’ve read in The New York Times in recent days was Miriam Jordan’s account of a car crash last month in Southern California involving a Ford Expedition that had come from Mexico, straight through a breach in the border wall. . . .[The people who died] . . . . might not have met their grisly fate if . . . . a wall had been standing in their way.

“That’s a conclusion I’ve come to reluctantly, and not because I’ve abandoned my disgust with Donald Trump. Walls are ugly things: symbols of defensive, suspicious, often closed-minded civilizations. Walls are, invariably, permeable: Whatever else a border wall will do, it will not seal off America from unwanted visitors or undocumented workers — roughly half of whom arrive legally and overstay their visas. . . .

“But a well-built wall should still be a central part of an overall immigration fix. It’s an imperfect but functional deterrent against the most reckless forms of border crossing. It’s a barrier against sudden future surges of mass migration.

“It’s also a political bargaining chip to be traded for a path to citizenship in a comprehensive immigration-reform bill. And it’s a prophylactic against the next populist revolt, which is sure to overtake our politics if the Biden administration cannot competently control an elementary function of governance.

“That deterrent is needed now. U.S. agents apprehended 170,000 migrants along the southwest border in March, a 70 percent jump over February’s numbers and the highest level in 15 years. Notwithstanding the administration’s claims to the contrary, there is a crisis. . . .

“In the meantime, the United States risks a version of the European migration crisis of 2015. That’s the one that contributed heavily to the Brexit vote, turbocharged the rise of far-right parties like France’s National Front and the Alternative for Germany, and paved the way to Trump’s election. . . .

“There’s little question that our own migration crisis is a political boon for immigration restrictionists. The wonder is why a serious Democratic administration would aid and abet their cause. . . . For Democrats, that’s an opportunity to defuse the political bomb Republicans would love to plant right under them. . . .” — Biden Should Build the Wall, Bret Stephens, The Seattle Times, 4/6/21 [Link]

Fact Check of Quote Above: This writer, Bret Stephens, supports a border wall, but not because he wants to stop illegal immigration. His support seems to stem from two goals: 1) To prevent the bad optics of masses of illegal aliens surging over the border. This might cause a backlash against illegal immigration 2) To offer a sop to conservatives to weaken their resistance to amnesty in particular and mass immigration in general.

His claim that walls are “ugly and suspicious” well suggests an underlying anti-American attitude. Walls and fences quite often have a good connotation, as in the saying “strong fences make good neighbors.” A fence on our border makes the statement that we respect our nation and the boundaries that define it. They also serve as a check on people from abroad who want to come in without respect for our rules and laws.

If the author feels that our walls and fences are “ugly and suspicious,” can we conclude that he feels the same about our nationhood and its rule of law as well? As Harvard historian Samuel Huntington notes in his book Who Are We?, many of America’s elites are “transnationals.” These are people who think patriotism is backward and unsophisticated. Instead, they view themselves as world citizens. What loyalty they have is to their elite social class and its agenda for global power. If Stephens is one of these transnationals, it would explain why he distains the populist pro-American policies of Donald Trump, as well as those of populist European policies.

In any case, Stephens is right that a border wall by itself will not stop illegal immigration. As he notes, as many as half of illegal aliens are visa overstayers, not border-crossers. A border wall will only work in conjunction with other enforcement measures. Among are an entry-exist system to track overstayers and mandatory use of the E-Verify system which allows employers to check the legal status of the people they hire. And even more important we need a presidential administration—unlike the one we have now—that actually cares about immigration law enforcement.

Stephens knows this, which is why he’s willing to promise a wall to restrictionists. And it’s a promise that may not even happen. In the past, legislation offered a border wall and other enforcement measures in exchange for amnesty. The enforcement, by and large, didn’t materialize. We could have controlled illegal immigration years ago. Unfortunately, many people with sinister motives kept that from happening.