Authored by Paul Sperry, op-ed via The New York Post,
When charges of “racism” and “xenophobia” fail, Democrats’ fallback argument against President Trump’s proposed border wall is that it simply “won’t work,” so why waste billions building it? Tell that to the residents of El Paso, Texas.
Federal data show a far-less imposing wall than the one Trump envisions - a two-story corrugated metal fence first erected under the Bush administration - already has dramatically curtailed both illegal border crossings and crime in Texas’ sixth-largest city, which borders the high-crime Mexican city of Juarez.
In fact, the number of deportable illegal immigrants located by the US Border Patrol plummeted by more than 89 percent over the five-year period during which the controversial new fence was built, according to Homeland Security data reviewed by me. When the project first started in 2006, illegal crossings totaled 122,261, but by 2010, when the 131-mile fence was completed from one end of El Paso out into the New Mexico desert, immigrant crossings shrank to just 12,251.
They hit a low of 9,678 in 2012, before slowly ticking back up to a total of 25,193 last year. But they’re still well below pre-fence levels, and the Border Patrol credits the fortified barrier dividing El Paso from Mexico for the reduction in illegal flows.
And crime abated with the reduced human traffic from Juarez, considered one of the most dangerous places in the world due to drug-cartel violence, helping El Paso become one of the safest large cities in America.
Before 2010, federal data show the border city was mired in violent crime and drug smuggling, thanks in large part to illicit activities spilling over from the Mexican side. Once the fence went up, however, things changed almost overnight. El Paso since then has consistently topped rankings for cities of 500,000 residents or more with low crime rates, based on FBI-collected statistics. The turnaround even caught the attention of former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and other Obama administration officials, who touted it as one of the nation’s safest cities while citing the beefed-up border security there.
Federal data illustrates just how remarkable the turnaround in crime has been since the fence was built. According to FBI tables, property crimes in El Paso have plunged more than 37 percent to 12,357 from their pre-fence peak of 19,702 a year, while violent crimes have dropped more than 6 percent to 2,682 from a peak of 2,861 a year.
The overall crime rate in El Paso continued to fall last year, prompting city leaders to trumpet the good news in a press release that noted, “Because El Paso is a border town, its low crime rate may surprise you.”
El Paso City Manager Tommy Gonzalez boasted that the city will “continue to lead our country in public safety.”
Another core promise made by Trump to justify constructing a massive wall spanning from Texas to California is that it will slow the flow of drugs coming across the border from Mexico.
“We need the wall for security. We need the wall for safety,” Trump said last week while answering questions about the sweeping new GOP immigration bill. “We need the wall for stopping the drugs from pouring in.”
On that score, El Paso already has exceeded expectations.
Drug smuggling along that border entry point has also fallen dramatically. In fact, since the fence was completed, the volume of marijuana and cocaine coming through El Paso and seized by Border Patrol agents has been cut in half.
The year before the wall was fully built in 2010, the volume of illegal drugs confiscated by the feds along the El Paso border hit 87,725 pounds. The year after, the amount of drug seizures plummeted to 43,783 pounds. Last year, they dropped even further to a total of 34,329, according to Border Patrol reports obtained by The Post.
All told, a legion of empirical evidence supports the idea a southern border wall could, in fact, work. There is also anecdotal evidence. In local press accounts, El Paso residents and business owners alike have praised the fence, citing it as an effective deterrent to both illegal crossings and crime.
Now Trump plans to build a possibly bigger deterrent.
The existing fence along the El Paso sector, which is made of a combination of corrugated steel and metal meshing, towers 21-feet high at some points and is already hard to climb. But the Trump wall, which will begin construction in El Paso, will be even taller and have multiple layers of security.
Still, Democratic leaders are adamantly opposed to it. They argue the $18 billion wall won’t work to keep out illegal immigrants and drugs, and will only be a massive waste of tax dollars.
“We think, frankly, the building of the wall, its cost is not justified either by its efficiency or effectiveness,” House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Thursday.
Even local Democrats are arguing with success.
“That wall in itself is a racist reaction to a racist myth that does not reflect the reality of this country at all,” said Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-El Paso).
Comments
I pray he holds out on this.....
I think it would be fair...trade DACA kids for
E=Verify
End Chain Migration
18 Billion for the wall.
DO NOT BUDGE FROM THIS DONALD. Mexico is a SHITHOLE...
No more democrat voters on the taxpayer dime. No DACA.
In reply to I pray he holds out on this by takeaction
Bigotry as patriotism is worse than the worst delusion.
http://bipworldview.wordpress.com/2018/01/13/the-patriotism-delusion/
In reply to No more democrat voters on… by MasterControl
Tell us more about how you are bigoted? White have a right to their country every bit as much as Chinese / Russians / etc.
In reply to O the delusion! by stizazz
What bigotry?
Do you lock your door at night?
In reply to O the delusion! by stizazz
I'm sure he is a cuckold that leaves it open for the vibrants to come and rape his wife, daughters and even the family cat.
In reply to What bigotry?… by Xena fobe
I'd be ok with 600k DACA people allowed to legally stay here if: 1. they were not granted immediate citizenship and had to get in line and go through what every other legal immigrant goes through to become a citizen (meaning most won't and will just be happy with green cards), 2. they shut down chain migration - DACA people DON'T get to have their families move here, 3. they build the WALL!!, 4. They deport the rest of them, 5. They absolutely utilize e-verify and fine the shit out of companies that cheat, 6. They send Maxine Waters, Fredericka Wilson, Richard Blumenthal, Ted Leiu, Nancy Pelosi, Diane Feinstein, Al Harris, Adam Schiff, Jackie Speier, Brad Sherman, Sheila Jackson Lee, Luis Gutierrez, Jerrold Nadler, Jeff Flake and Al Sharpton to Mexico after they build the Wall.
In reply to I'm sure he is a cuckold… by BlindMonkey
I'd be happy with just number 6!
In reply to I'd be ok with 600k DACA… by eatthebanksters
.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States#/media/File%…
http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55a009376bb3f78005f7425b-1190-…
just curious where the wall is on these charts?
In reply to I'd be happy with just… by BigRye2015
Has anyone stopped to consider The Wall may be designed to keep us in?
In reply to .https://en.m.wikipedia.org… by Bes
to keep us in where everyone is migrating into.
except the mega-millionaires who are renouncing their citizenship.
that sucking sound is not being made by other nations sending their criminals to the US.
that sucking sound is you and your logic.
In reply to Has anyone stopped to… by house biscuit
How many have applied for citizenship already?
In reply to I'd be ok with 600k DACA… by eatthebanksters
Why is preventing criminals entering your home racism?
In reply to O the delusion! by stizazz
anything protecting White People is racist.
anything defending Western Civilization is racist.
Ultimately, to our enemies, simply being White is racist.
So when they call you racist, know that you are doing something right. Then do it again, harder.
In reply to Why is preventing criminals… by css1971
1. What an absolutely false, idiotic article
"God does not outline borders".... "...money is the answer... Ecclesiastes 10:19"
yes, God DID make borders, defined throughout the Old Testament including 12 languages and separations at the tower of Babal and that entire chapter in Ecclesiastes is talking about a fool!
You my friend (sarc) are the subject of that chapter...
In reply to O the delusion! by stizazz
Your God is a figment of your imagination, as such please keep it to yourself
In reply to 1. What an absolutely false,… by OutWithLibs
They will get amnesty no matter what eventually. Might as well use it as a bargaining chip now. Merit based immigration is the prize. The wall is OK. Won't hurt.
In reply to No more democrat voters on… by MasterControl
Demorats only care about themselves.
Dems do NOT care about American citizens.
In reply to They will get amnesty no… by Xena fobe
.. and yet El Paso - 90%+ hispanic - is solid democrat. the irony boggles
In reply to Demorats only care about… by CheapBastard
Democrats care about only one thing, tending to their plantation by seeding new voters
In reply to Demorats only care about… by CheapBastard
New voters? only?
That explains why White Countries only are being invaded by foreign hordes posing as migrants, refugees, pension payers?
That politics are not war by other means? That these new voters are being imported from hostile foreign hordes by hostile foreign elites?
This is a Race War. Ethnic Cleansing. a Clash of Civilizations. Your skin is your uniform.
The sooner you can get that through your head, the sooner you can stop propping up the Potemkin Political Party View of D vs R, and start doing something to defend your People.
Use the political system if you must, but know ultimately what This Conflict really is. It doesn't go away if you refuse to name it.
In reply to Democrats care about only… by Zero-Hegemon
Only works if the DACA kids can't vote for about 10 years or so. The Dems want them voting in 2018, which was the plan all along.
In reply to I pray he holds out on this by takeaction
Dumb
Americans
Conned
Again
In reply to Only works if the DACA kids… by duo
SAY WHAAAAAAA?????????????/
In reply to Dumb Americans Conned Again by BarkingCat
Some of us still remember the last time they promised to enforce the border, make the illegals pay their back taxes etc. etc. in exchange for an amnesty; in 1986. And they held to none of their promises. NEVER AGAIN.
In reply to SAY WHAAAAAAA?????????????/ by BITCH SLAPPER
You raise an excellent point. If a deal is struck with DACA, the construction of the wall must come first.
In reply to Some of us still remember… by True Blue
The DACA shitheels can go back to Mexico. If mom and dad got evicted from an apartment because they snuck into it and became squatters, the landlord wouldn't allow the fucking brat children to stay in the place, be forced give them an education, house them, feed, them, etc.
Ship the so-called Dreamers back to Mexico and other parts of Latin America where, if they are as bright as the Left makes them out to be, they can help their third-world shithole home countries improve.
The United States of America needs to build the wall, ship all illegals out of the country, uphold the Rule of Law, and start acting like a sovereign nation. Anything less than that is just asking for more shit down the road.
In reply to I pray he holds out on this by takeaction
Its funny, but something similar happened in China and no one's talking about it.
I was back seeing family in Beijing and the skies were unusually clear. I asked about it, and Xi was engaging in a campaign he termed "Rule of Law," which involved banning every out-of-city person from working in-city illegally (Chinese have an internal passport, moving from rural areas/ smaller cities to a large city is something similar to trying to immigrate to a new country), banning all unregistered street vendors, and banning all unregistered businesses along with businesses considered too polluting.
The open market near my in-laws looks totally different, nothing is on the sidewalk any more, whereas the sidewalks used to be stuffed with various goods from street vendors or as "expansions" from the in-building shops. That said, all of the brick-and-mortar places were still there, and selling the usual goods. I also saw one building with a lot of the illegal businesses being torn down, the last business there had a "going out of business" sign while the other side of the building had been partially demolished. Traffic was a lot lighter as so many people had been evicted and sent back to their hometowns. The ones that return will do so through the official channels, which includes going by the labor laws (China actually has very strict laws, but until recently they were too broke to enforce any of them).
But with all that said, the locals liked it because the skies were blue again, traffic was better, the streets were cleaner, and at least for Beijing the phenomenon of sweatshops filled with in-country illegals working in near-slavery conditions had been largely expunged. From an American perspective, I'm mostly surprised at just how fast things happen when there are no constitutional restrictions. Good or bad.
It does make you wonder what would happen if the USA took similar actions?
In reply to The DACA shitheels can go… by lennysrv
America will never take such steps. We have too many "feel good" folks here. They want to make sure everyone gets their "shot" at everything. Which means we will continue to give them anything they need.
GW
In reply to Its funny, but something… by techpriest
No wall! 100'moat filled with Alligators and piranhas in case the alligators fall a sleep!
In reply to I pray he holds out on this by takeaction
How bout a moat filled wit yo mammys dirty coochie...juice.
In reply to No wall! 100'moat filled… by starman
It is incredible—corrupt to the core and incredible. We live in a rerun of Tammany Hall.
DACA “kids” are 35 and under, and many of them have kids or will shortly, whereupon they will join the illegal alien parents who consume $116 billion in federal and state resources each year, not counting billions in refundable child tax credits up to $6,444 for the parents to spend as they please.
The Swamp just increased those child tax credits for illegal aliens and others to push through their tax cut for the rich, adding even more welfare to help illegal aliens undercut low-income Americans who must cover their bills on earned-only income in the job market, just like they are going to shove through this amnesty with an token offering for the wall.
The $1.6 billion in wall money in this current budget may, in reality, be the first-and-last installment. The point is to spit in the Deplorable voters’ faces by trading that pittance for another mass amnesty.
That $1.6 billion in wall money, or even the full $18 billion, does not compare to even one year of paying to feed, house, educate and incarcerate the illegal aliens who cost taxpayers @ $116 billion per year, not counting the $28 billion in remittances leaving the country every year, nor the billions in child tax credits for illegal alien parents to spend freely on anything they choose to spend the money on, not just kids.
https://www.google.com/amp/thehill.com/homenews/house/341527-bill-alloc…
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/record-135-billion-a-year-for-illegal…
https://fairus.org/press-releases/new-fair-study-illegal-immigration-co…
https://cis.org/Report/Cost-Welfare-Use-Immigrant-and-Native-Households
https://cis.org/Child-Tax-Credits-Illegal-Immigrants
https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-cr…
https://www.google.com/search?q=washimton%20times%20illegal%20alien%20t…
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.dailycaller.com/2017/12/16/final-tax-bil…
And it is not just 800,000 DACAs; it is millions when their families are added. We need FAR FAR more jobs than the jobs the MSM, this administration and the previous administration boast about to accommodate all of these illegal aliens and their families, not to mention the Puerto Ricans coming here in droves who are citizens and, like other citizens, should be prioritized over illegal aliens.
But none of us are prioritized; citizens do not count in this so-called Republic.
What laws can we break, we citizens? What laws can we break and then get paid for it by taxpayers in layers of free groceries, free rent and $6,444 refundable checks called our “taxes,” as long as we have sex and reproduce after breaking the laws? If we say we are doing it for babies, what laws are alright to break?
Americans are struggling with rent that absorbs half or more of our paltry pay. Most of us get zero pay-per-birth freebies from our government, not even UC to help with rent between low-wage churn jobs, and millions of DACAs and their families will keep driving up rent costs by competing for units, while they are able to work for less due to monthly welfare that covers their groceries and, in some states, their rent and increased child tax credits that already max out at $6,444.
On top of the pay-per-birth welfare and child-tax-credit welfare, DACAs will also enjoy hiring preferences for being minorities.
In reply to I pray he holds out on this by takeaction
Replacing chain migration with merit based migration is absolutely the highest priority. Tracking visa overstays is also important. The wall would be icing on the cake.
In reply to It is incredible—corrupt to… by Endgame Napoleon
It's a simple fix really; only Persons with legal status can vote in the elections and exclude anyone who's parents brought them here illegally for a period of 10 years or until their parents become citizens, whichever comes 1st. If Pres. Trump made that a condition in regards to the wall the Dem's would drop them in a heartbeat. They want their votes and once that's gone they could care less!
In reply to It is incredible—corrupt to… by Endgame Napoleon
Only whores trade favors. How about No DACA and YES WALL?
Of course, in the case of El Paso, these "statistics" are completely bogus. Yes, illegal immigration is down in El Paso, but it's probably up in some other border area as those who previously crossed at El Paso now cross somewhere else.
And, as I have noted previously, a twenty-foot wall can be scaled by a twenty-five foot ladder. Drugs can be droned or catapulted over walls. Land mines and machine guns would also work and are infinitely less expensive.
In reply to I pray he holds out on this by takeaction
Watch these three movies for a glimpse of what a shithole Mexico is:
Traffic
Sicario
Narco Cultura (documentary)
And if your stomach is strong enough, there are plenty of drug cartel chainsaw and machete decapitation videos online.
In reply to I pray he holds out on this by takeaction
Most morons north of the border are too dumb ever to get it despite the obvious. Ever wonder why all that crap gets over the border and to market so easily like a well greased supply line for Walmart? Ever wonder why there has NEVER been a USSAN cartel drug boss? Because the rotten institutions of the CIA, FBI, DEA and Border Patrol are the USSAN cartels. Capiche!
Mexican Cartel, Los ZETAS trained by USSA
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2010/10/20101019212440609775.h...
Mike Ruppert "CIA are drug runners"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT5MY3C86bk
Ron Paul "Bush is a drug runner".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz7sO-i4H1s
The Sackler Gang, a Jewish crime family that makes Al Capone look like a Prohibition era social worker.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/the-family-that-built-an-e..
In reply to Watch these three movies for… by vulcanraven
You never want to wall yourself in. The easiest deterrent is to force government to uphold immigration laws and refuse any subsidies and welfare to illegals.
In reply to I pray he holds out on this by takeaction
We have "legal" mexicans within the USA teaching illegals how to rape the USA taxpayer!!! They love it!!!!
SETH RICH???
TRIUMPH with TRUMP!!!
In reply to You never want to wall… by headless blogger
There is so much USSAN shit there, you probably have a point.
In reply to I pray he holds out on this by takeaction
illegals don't deserve voting rights
In reply to I pray he holds out on this by takeaction
Makes sense
Out in the West Texas town of El Paso, I fell in Love with a Mexican girl.
That predates the "Frito Bandito".
In reply to Out in the West Texas town… by Magnum
Eating a bag of corn chips with my 16 yr old son, I started singing The Frito Bandido. He thought I made it up. Pulled it up online. He laughed and said that is so racist, then went about singing it. Honestly surprised the school has not called to complain cuz the kid no doubt sang it there.
In reply to That predates the "Frito… by duo
+1 for Marty.
In reply to Out in the West Texas town… by Magnum
" We lost it in the South turn. "
It's time the illegals hit The Wall.
In reply to +1 for Marty. by Savvy
-1 for Marty.
In reply to +1 for Marty. by Savvy
There are plenty of legal immigration methods so you and your senorita can live happily ever after. A few green cards in my family.
In reply to Out in the West Texas town… by Magnum
Watch out for that sharp burning pain in your side.
In reply to Out in the West Texas town… by Magnum
Pagination