The Wall

I have never thought the argument against illegal immigration was about jobs. 2/3rds of all immigrants come across legally. What I'm concerned about in the 1//3 that hop the fence that we have no idea who they are. Might be drug traffickers might be MS-13 gang members might be terrorists. The message we will be sending to terrorists if we don't build a wall is, "Terrorists, if you want to come into the US, don't go thru JFK or Newark....go to Mexico and walk across the border where you won't be vetted....and no one will even know you are in the country!"

I have no problem shutting down the government. I hope that doesn't happen as it just costs us money. Federal employees always end up getting paid after the shutdown so it ends up just being a paid vacation (at tax-payer expense). What I hope happens is the Senate suspends the 60 vote rule and passes a bill to fund the wall with their majority. Jordon in the House said he is 100% sure he has the votes in the House.

In the grand scheme of things, $5B is not that much. The defense budget is $639 billion. The total Federal budget is $4.407 trillion. So $5B is a round-off error! Democrats have studied the politics of this and evidently they have concluded that this is a winning issue for them.

Trump has the advantage of the bully pulpit on this. Every time there is a gruesome crime by illegal immigrants he can and will make sure it makes the news. I heard on the radio yesterday that an illegal immigrant was convicted of raping a 6 yo girl in Chicago. Does that mean all illegal immigrants are going to be rapists? No. But if you don't at least try to screen them every scum of the earth like this guy will come across.

The Mariel boatlift was a mass emigration of Cubans, who traveled from Cuba's Mariel Harbor to the United States between 15 April and 31 October 1980. 10,000 Cubans came into the US seeking asylum. It was widely believed that Castro emptied his prisons and put all the murders and rapist and other violent offenders on a boat to the US. If we don't secure the boarder all of central America will end up in the US.

My idea to secure the border is this:

1. Build brick and mortar walls where appropriate.
2. Use fencing and razor wire where appropriate
3. Build numerous observation towers were appropriate
4. Maximize the use of drone and sensors where appropriate
5. Use armed guards where appropriate
6. Expedite the processing of asylum seekers so the 'lines' are not so long
7. Immediately deport people that are caught crossing over
8. Imprison repeat offenders (I believe it is currently a felony to cross back over once you have been deported)
9. Build natural barriers that make crossing more difficult such as dams
10.

Use satellite surveillance where appropriate

After 9/11 the US went to work to secure air travel with the creation of TSA. Personally I think much of what they do is a complete waist of time and money. Making a 90 yo blond hair, blue eye grandmother be patted down is simply being PC so we don't profile and offend people. Nevertheless, despite the PC stuff, I believe TSA has made flying safer. If there were no screening there would be many more terrorist attacks. Secure our border will not stop 100% of illegal crossing but it will stop some.

I also think there needs to be a lot of cost analysis done to decide which of the above 10 items deliver the best life cycle cost vs effectiveness. I also think US companies ought to be engaged to come up with ideas. I have an ap on my cell phone that tells me how heavy the traffic is on the interstate. My guess is they use cell phone tower registration to predict the density of cars in a given stretch of interstate. From the pictures of the caravans, many of these people have cell phones. Maybe we could add cell towers close to the border and when 15 cell phone come within range and register with the tower, the tower alerts the border guards. Another idea I had is to hire private security companies to secure sections of the border. If you pay me $1M/year to secure 50 miles of the border I guarantee no one would get thru my sector.

Think of the border like a colander with various sized holes. Start plugging holes and you reduce the throughput of the colander. You don't have to plug every hole! Start with the biggest hole and plug that one. Then the next biggest and the next and the next.....

"Nothing is over till we decide it is! Was it over when the German's bombed Pearl Harbor?"


Trump could still veto the CR. He could wage the same battle in February...albeit that would be dumb as by them the dems control the House.

If he 'caves' my guess is teams of WH lawyers have figured out how to fund the wall some other way.

I wish he'd quit calling it a wall! The wall is not the whole answer...it is just part of the solution. But I guess "Build that wall!" Sounds better at rallies than, "Increase border security with the judicious use of drones, surveillance, guards, fences, razor wire, etc"

Yes, out of the mouths of politicians come political bs...I mean rhetoric. That may be the perfect design solution for parts of the border but not feasible for other parts.

My suggestions: Take $1b or whatever he can get and fund R&D efforts to determine the best solution for border security for all parts of the border*. Like the one started after 9/11 that Obama canceled.


*"Secure Border Initiative. The prime contractor for SBI is Boeing. A major component of SBI is SBInet, a new, integrated system of personnel, infrastructure, technology, and rapid response, for the northern and southern land borders of the U.S., primarily through fencing and electronic surveillance. From September 2006 to January 2008, CBP, which runs SBInet, awarded $1.15 billion through eight task orders to Boeing for work on SBI and SBInet.[1]" Wikipedia

I saw this earlier. Darn it! I've had this idea for months! My thinking is I'd 'mange' the $5 billion and pay myself a measly 1% of the fund. :-) Heck, I'd settle for 0.1%

House Freedom Caucus Will Vote ‘No’ On Short-Term Funding Bill Over Border Wall Funding.

Like I said, it ain't over till it's over.

I see zero down-side for Trump if he vetoes the bill if it does not include the wall. It will then all fall back to congress and they would have to override his veto or keep the government shut down. I believe Trump's base is behind him on this and he can't afford to lose his base.

Here's a better GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/ladders-to-get-over-trump039s-wall

The counter-fundraiser will donate all the money raised to RAICES

None of my students who are undocumented came over the boarder. They flew on these weird things called airplanes. Or they came across on a bus with legal documents. The wall will stop nothing and is a waste of money.

Pretty sure helping people sneak across the border is a crime:

"Under the law, an alien smuggler is a person who encourages, assists, or aids any other individual to try to enter the United States in violation of the law."


If the wall 'will stop nothing' then why would they need to buy ladders?

My guess is the top of the wall will be electric so you might need to buy them plastic ladders.

The gofundme is up to $5 million now. Trying to decide how much I want to contribute. To me the contribution is no so much about actually funding the wall as it is about showing how many people are passionate about this issue.

In related news.....


"Garcia, a twice deported 36-year-old who police say embarked on a 'reign of terror' robbing a convenience store, shooting and killing a person and firing at buildings before crashing a truck that he had stolen. The day-long crime spree that began Sunday in the Fresno area also left five injured, including one critical, and Lindsay Police suspect Garcia was involved in an additional murder there. Garcia – who had been in police custody shortly before the rampage -- would have been handed over to ICE (but was in a sanctuary city)"

Oh, me me me me! I know the answer to this one…..

It is similar to a wood plane but it has special blade to cut air. If there is just a little too much air in the room, you can plane it down with an airplane.



OK, obviously things are really slow at work today!

Edited by Rogillio 2018-12-20 1:30 PM






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Haven't heard this scenario. Is this 'legal'? Seems to me the bill would need to be sent back to the House to be passed by the new House. Otherwise you have a bill passed by the 116th/117th Congress.

Edited by Left Brain 2018-12-27 9:15 AM