The Latest (Sad) Chapter in the Border Wall Saga
How border security became a heated controversy is bizarre bordering on madness
By Andrew R. Arthur on December 20, 2024
Barriers at the Southwest border were never a contentious issue until Donald Trump descended on the escalator at Trump Tower to announce his candidacy in June 2015. Ever since, though, “the wall” has become a litmus test for both major political parties (while escalators have become political symbols). In the waning days of the Biden administration, a new (sad) chapter in this saga is being written as unused fence panels have gone up for sale just in time for the holiday season.
Chapter 1: The Prelude. Prior to the 2016 presidential campaign, the erection of barriers — including fences — and infrastructure along the Southwest border was a relatively bipartisan affair.
It all started in 1993 when the then-Border Patrol Chief in the El Paso Sector, Silvestre Reyes, repaired a dilapidated fence in that Texas border city’s downtown, and extended it outward as part of “Operation Hold the Line”.
In assessing that operation in 1995, the Center explained:
The El Paso Border Patrol sector, under the supervision of Chief Silvestre Reyes, proved that illegal immigration could be effectively deterred by a preventative deployment of agents along the border. ... By mobilizing his sector's resources along the border around the clock, he converted what had been a widely breached border river and fence between the busy cities of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, into an effective deterrent. The apprehension data show a precipitous drop from the outset of the operation.
https://cis.org/Arthur/Latest-Sad-Chapter-Border-Wall-Saga
