By Yvette Herrell / Former State Representative, Candidate For U.s. Congress N.m. District 2
YVETTE HERRELL – New Mexico finally gets better border wall
President Trump is keeping his pledge on border security – despite the Democrats’ obstruction campaign, the new border wall is coming to New Mexico.
Construction crews have already begun reinforcing a 46-mile stretch of the border to protect our state from the growing threat of illegal immigration. For all intents and purposes, this is actually a brand new stretch of border wall, because the old barrier did practically nothing to stop people from crossing the border into New Mexico illegally, as demonstrated in a video clip from 2005 that shows illegal immigrants swarming over it with ease.
Similar construction projects are ongoing in California, Arizona and Texas, and to date, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reports that 60 miles of brand new border walls have been built since 2017, with an additional 390 miles scheduled to be completed before the end of 2020.
This breakthrough comes at a crucial time for the people of New Mexico – the U.S. immigration system has been broken for years, creating a humanitarian and national security crisis that has become particularly acute in recent months. The Democratic Party has only made the problem worse by obstructing President Trump’s solutions, while simultaneously encouraging even more illegal immigrants to exploit the many loopholes in our laws.
In May, the Associated Press reported that Las Cruces had been flooded by more than 6,000 illegal immigrants in just over a month. The town of Deming, with a population of just 14,000, was taking in between 300 and 500 illegal immigrants every single day in the same time period.
But President Trump was never going to let radical liberals stop him from protecting America, and he found a way to combat Democrats’ obstructionism by reallocating funding for the border wall using his executive authority. Now that the courts have upheld the legality of his actions, the funds are finally being spent on new and improved fencing all along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The new border wall in New Mexico, which is almost twice the height of the previous one, will dramatically reduce illegal immigration in the state. With fewer resources needed to patrol vast and often remote stretches of the border, Border Patrol will be able to reinforce ports of entry and prioritize other surveillance operations.
The new wall will do more than just improve security, though – it’s also a humanitarian measure that will spare illegal immigrants the hardships of enduring inhospitable terrains as they attempt to cross the border. Just a few weeks ago, Border Patrol agents saved nearly 200 illegal immigrants, including unaccompanied children, who were attempting to enter the country through a remote part of the New Mexico desert.
While President Trump’s new border walls won’t completely solve the illegal immigration crisis on their own, they’re a necessary complement to the dozens of existing initiatives already implemented by the Trump administration. The president’s campaign to stop multinational criminal organizations and drug cartels, for instance, will be even more effective once federal authorities can focus their resources on identifying those criminals at ports of entry instead of spending millions of dollars patrolling an unprotected border. Also, President Trump’s deals with Mexico and Guatemala are already significantly reducing illegal border crossings.
Going forward, the wall will serve as the foundation for future progress, enabling law enforcement officers and policy makers alike to take a more proactive approach to securing the border now that there will be fewer open areas along the border to breach.
It’s been a long, slow march in the face of constant Democratic obstructionism, but President Trump is keeping one of his most important promises to the people of New Mexico and America: He’s securing the border and keeping our communities safe.
