Accord gains support
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WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans have a new talking point about President Donald Trump’s border wall: It’s not really awall at all.
Instead, the wall is “a bit of a metaphor as to border security,” in the words of Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R Fla.
Or, a “quote, wall,” as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., put it: A combination of drones, towers, anti-tunneling devices and the like that add up to enhanced border security.
The issue arose this week as Congress squabbled over governmentwide spending legislation, including money for security measures along the U.S.-Mexico border.
After the president backed off his demands in face of Democratic objections, the bill is not expected to include money specifically designated for constructing the “big, beautiful” border wall Trump promised during the campaign.
Instead the legislation will pay for other border security measures, perhaps including access roads and gates and technological improvements of various kinds.
That might seem to fall short of Trump’s commitments. But according to Republicans like McCain and Diaz-Balart, Trump’s promised wall may be better understood as a figure of speech anyway.
“Inmy view you’ve got to have an interpretation of a, quote, wall as a barrier to illegal drugs, illegal people, these gangs that are coming from the Central American countries, and that means using every bit of technology that you have,” McCain said.
As for whether the president shares his views, McCain said: “I believe that he is at least considering that definition.”
Experts and lawmakers of both parties have dismissed the notion of a physical wall along the nearly 2,000-mile border as impractical and expensive. Cost estimates top $20 billion and Republicans scoff at Trump’s promise that Mexico will pay for it.
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has acknowledged there won’t be a wall “from sea to shining sea” and instead has discussed a combination of structures, technology and manpower. But Kelly has been firm that there would be some new physical structures at the border.
Republicans who faced questions this week about the need to pay for an actual wall found refuge in Kelly’s positioning.
“Listen to the way he defines it — that’s what we’re working on,” said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. “This is about wall, fencing, repairs, technology, people, all in the right balance to do the best job. Boy, that seems pretty reasonable.”
But some immigration hard-liners were outraged as fellow Republicans debated what constituted a wall.
“The pro-amnesty people are trying to redefine the word ‘wall,’ ” said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. “They don’t want security at the border, they never have, andwe should not let them play linguistic or semantics games to try to pull down a mandate that the American people commanded when they went to the polls.”