Let’s ignore the fact — and it’s a fact — that most drugs from Mexico come in through ports of entry, so a border wall won’t stop the flow of drugs.
Castles, walls, and moats were a popular military technology until, oh, about 500 years ago. Kings quit spending treasure on them because gunpowder cannons made short work of them. Prison walls work only because (a) they’re guarded and (b) inmates lack the tools to breach them.
Now let’s say an inspired soul, after viewing “The Shawshank Redemption,” decides to replicate those wicked looking concrete walls topped with razor wire on our southern border. Give me a jackhammer and I’ll make a door for you.
According to news reports, Donald Trump, after parsing various wall designs, is zeroing in on a barrier made of steel slats. The Washington Post calculated that the slats are roughly 1-inch x 10-inches, spaced about 9 inches apart, and about 28 feet high. Read story here.
Now, just for fun, let’s try a thought experiment. If you wanted to get to the other side of this barrier, would you …
(A) climb over it,
(B) tunnel under it,
(C) go through it, or
(D) give up?
Trump wants you to choose answer (D), but (C) is actually the best answer. Any wrecking yard guy would laugh at this barrier. Give him a cutting torch and 5 minutes, and he’ll be on the other side. The point is, no matter what kind of physical barrier you build, there’s a way to breach it; and unless you keep its entire length under constant surveillance, it will look like Swiss cheese.
It’s possible Trump is stupid enough to believe walls can keep people out, even though nobody builds them for that purpose anymore, because they only work for keeping people in, but more likely whether his border wall will work is a red herring.
The real reason he wants to build this silly barrier at your expense is to keep a campaign promise to his fans. Whether it works or not is immaterial.
Berlin does come to mind. Israel uses walls. And walls still exist in the city of Belfast. Walls with manpower, mines, machine guns, ect do work. Of course there is the option of placing the 101st on the border with similar operating orders as todays forces on the Russian and Chinese borders. Effective if the forces are not too corrupt, and the political leaders are willing to pay the political price in having armed troops deployed for a long time with actual live firing taking place and potential conflict with Mexico. Or at least putting existing tensions more clearly on the table. No wall is necessary if Mexico would deal with its citizens as if the US has similar immigration laws as Mexico, rather than giving Mexicans who immigrate better rights, and being reliant on dollars from Mexicans in the US. Also when you are dealing with individuals seeking asylum it is the first country those seeking such status that must initially deal with those requests and deal with verifying requests are valid, and seeking assistance if Mexico cannot accommodate the seekers. China has some empty cities the seekers could occupy.