‘We need the wall, and the wall will work’

Debbie Lesko

I recently visited the United StatesMexico border in Nogales, Arizona, where I met with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents and was briefed on the challenges of an unsecured border.

The problem we are dealing with is not just illegal immigration; there are illicit drugs flowing through our borders, human trafficking, and dangerous cartels exploiting vulnerable women and children. The biggest takeaway: We need the wall, and the wall will work.

I asked the border patrol agents I met on my visit if they thought the wall would help. These are the people who see the mess that is our southern border every single day. They told me yes, the wall will help in their efforts to combat illegal immigration and other activity along the border.

That’s because walls work. It is a protective infrastructure that deters unlawful border crossings and other il- legal activity where our natural barriers — such as rivers, mountains, and other impassable terrain — do not exist.

In 2000, the Department of Homeland Security built a wall in the Tucson, Arizona, sector. Over 15 years, border apprehensions from CBP dropped by 90 percent. In 2005, DHS built a wall in Yuma, Arizona. There, border apprehensions dropped 95 percent over nine years, according to CBP data. These are just a couple of places where we’ve built a wall and the wall has worked.

It will take more than just a physical barrier to solve the problem of illegal immigration once and for all. But coupled with more border patrol agents and enhanced technology, we can send the message that we are serious about securing our border. Only then will the U.S. finally show the world we have borders, and they must be respected.

Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., is a cosponsor of the “Build the Wall, Enforce the Law Act of 2018.”