Throughout his first year as the leader of the United States, President Trump has consistently stated that the U.S. needs to protect our borders. He has echoed the wishes of the American people to build a wall between the United States and Mexico, and is adamant about national security.
After a recent terror attack on an Egyptian mosque killed over 300 people, the case for the wall is stronger than ever.
“Will be calling the President of Egypt in a short while to discuss the tragic terrorist attack, with so much loss of life,” the president tweeted after the attack. “We have to get TOUGHER AND SMARTER than ever before, and we will. Need the WALL, need the BAN! God bless the people of Egypt.”
It is President Trump’s belief that a strong border between the United States and Mexico is necessary in order to keep Muslim extremists out of the U.S. This is a sentiment he has spoken strongly about, and a wall is one of his biggest campaign promise.
Up through September 2016, U.S. border patrol agents caught 1,004 individuals trying to come into the United States illegally. Many of the people who were caught came from either Pakistan or Bangladesh — not Mexico. 2016 did not see a big influx of people trying to cross the U.S. border from Mexico who are from countries of “special interest”.
While at this time there isn’t strong evidence of terrorists trying to come into the United States from Mexico, there is plenty of opportunity. The border is open, and without a wall in place it becomes much harder to defend the United States against terrorism.
Rogue terrorists aren’t the only problem. The ability to smuggle is real, and the Islamic State fighters produce an online magazine that indicates attempts at smuggling nuclear devices into the U.S. over the Mexican border. It’s a threat that Trump takes seriously, and anyone that wants to take a hard line on terrorism agrees with the president.
ISIS has been trying to find ways to get into the United States in a variety of ways. However, the federal government has focused on protecting points of entry into the United States. This includes spending on radiation detection equipment. Almost 100% of all vehicles that enter the United States can be scanned using the equipment.
While this is certainly impressive, President Trump does not believe this is enough. The recent terror attack in Egypt proves that ISIS is alive and well, looking for new targets to hit all of the time.
The worst part? Walling off the southern border may not be enough either.
There is growing concern for the United States border to the north as well. Although Canada is often regarded as a docile ally, this doesn’t mean that terrorists can’t get into the country and then cross the border to cause problems in America.
President Trump wants to prevent illegal drugs from coming into the United States as well as terrorists. Drugs are a big problem in the United States, and President Trump states that the border between Mexico and the United States must be controlled by a wall to stop drugs from reaching the U.S.
The United States has a growing opioid crisis, preventing this epidemic from growing requires some of the same measures fighting domestic terrorism does.
Our borders need to be protected, and President Trump has promised since his early campaigning that he will build a wall that secures the U.S. border. While funding for the wall has yet to be established, prototypes for a new wall are in development.
With secure borders our country can better defend ourselves. ISIS and other terrorist groups must be stopped, and a border wall is going to make a big difference.
~ Liberty Planet
