DHS: Arizona Proves ‘Border Walls Work’
by
John Binder24 Aug 2017Washington,
D.C.
In an op-ed for USA Today, Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) Acting Secretary Elaine Duke said that despite pushback from the
political establishment, the state of Arizona proves “border walls
work.”
Duke became Acting Secretary of DHS after Gen. John Kelly was
reassigned the title of President Trump’s Chief of Staff. Just before
Trump spoke in Phoenix, Arizona, about immigration, Duke
penned the op-ed, where she touted the ‘Secure Fence Act of 2006.’
In that legislation, Arizona’s Yuma Sector was one of the first border
regions to see new infrastructure:
The bipartisan Secure Fence Act of 2006 — supported by then-Sens.
Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and others — mandated the
construction of hundreds of additional miles of secure fencing and
infrastructure investments. Yuma sector was one of the first areas
to receive infrastructure investments.
We built new infrastructure along the border east and west of the
San Luis Arizona Port of Entry in 2006. The existing fence was
quickly lengthened, and we added second and third layers to that
fencing in urban areas. Lighting, roads and increased surveillance
were added to aid agents patrolling the border.
Although there is still work to do, the border in Yuma sector
today is more secure because of this investment. Even under lax
enforcement standards, apprehensions in fiscal year 2016 were
roughly a 10th of what they were in FY 2005 — and are on track to be
even lower this year. Crime has significantly decreased in the Yuma
area, and smugglers now look for other less difficult areas of the
border to cross — often areas without fencing.
Duke, though, did not just comment on the effectiveness of a border
wall, but also noted extensively how “open borders policies” have been a
detriment to American communities that have been torn apart by a
never-ending flow of gang warfare, drugs and sex crimes:
Aware of these lax enforcement policies, tens of thousands of
aliens attempted to the cross the border illegally every month.
Last October alone, more than 66,000 people were apprehended after
entering illegally — and that 66,000 is just the number of
individuals we actually found; it does not include those who evaded
detection.
The culture of pardons, permisos and lax enforcement also
encouraged dangerous behavior by individuals looking to come to the
United States. It meant that parents were willing to risk subjecting
their children to sexual abuse and neglect at the hands of smugglers
(also known as coyotes). It meant that — in a single year — hundreds
of thousands risked their lives. In FY 2016, Customs and Border
Protection saved nearly 4,000 near-death individuals who found
themselves lost in the desert. This is in addition to the tremendous
number of immigrants who are robbed, raped and brutalized along the
human smugglers’ dark networks.
Under Trump, Duke says the days of open borders policies are over,
citing the need to move forward with a border wall, as it has proved
effective in Arizona. Duke also pleaded with Republicans and Democrats
to fund Trump’s border wall.
“Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle should come together like they
did 10 years ago and give the men and women of DHS the resources we need
to defend our homeland,” Duke said. “This starts with fully funding the
construction of a wall along our Southern border.”
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on
Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
Copyright © 2017 Breitbart
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