In defense of the wall

“I want it to be as hard to get into the United States as it was to get out of East Germany,” Ann Coulter has said (God is a woman, after all).

Throughout the month-long government shutdown, Democrats anchored their opposition to the border wall in two central points: walls don’t work and it would be too expensive. Neither of these frivolous claims are true.

What kind of an argument is “walls don’t work.” We see walls effectively serve their purpose every day. Walls confine prisoners, create secure zones and protect the rich, the powerful and the famous. The same elites that demand open borders and amnesty hide behind massive walls and gated communities — and security guards with firearms — while insisting that walls don’t work (and that the Second Amendment should be repealed). The irony is lost on no one. I understand, though, that some people still have doubts about the efficacy of a border wall for the purpose of keeping out undocumented immigrants. For those people, I have good news and even better news. The good news is: other countries have already constructed physical barriers along their borders, so we can assess the effectiveness of those walls to determine whether or not “walls work.” The even better news is: the walls worked — who could have guessed?

In 2010, Israel decided to construct a physical barrier along its Egyptian border. As one can imagine, Israel has serious concerns about security threats posed by illegal immigration. After finishing construction in 2014, Israel decided to upgrade their border wall by adding detection devices and increasing the height of the barrier. Even before the additional upgrades, the effectiveness of the wall was (literally) almost perfect. Data released by the Israeli government demonstrated that the new physical barrier along the Egyptian border reduced illegal crossings by over 99 percent. Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has praised the physical barrier for its immense efficacy in stopping illegal immigration. Local leaders in Israel have made similar observations and joined the Prime Minister in praising the effectiveness of the wall.

A tiny little country with only a fraction of the United States’ resources — and located in the most hostile region in the world — was able to construct an impenetrable physical barrier. The idea that the United States is incapable of doing so is utter nonsense.

A wall Is a bargain.

When Democrats aren’t busy incoherently sputtering about how “walls don’t work,” they are insisting that the wall is too expensive. They claim that spending $5.7 billion on securing the border is fiscally irresponsible. Really? Democrats expect the American people to believe their resistance to the wall is over excessive spending? A fiscally-concerned Democrat is an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one. They might as well say they oppose the wall because they don’t believe in big government intervention.

Fortunately, the wall pays for itself. The undocumented immigrant population imposes an annual fiscal deficit of $116 billion. Yes, you are reading that correctly. We are over $20 trillion in debt, and we lose $116 billion every year on people that aren’t even Americans. Imagine the tax dollars we would save if we built the wall, halted expenditures on undocumented immigrants and began deportations. Don’t tell me the wall is too expensive.

Walls work, and we can afford to build one.