CBP Chief Issues Incredible Statement About Border Wall Construction
President Donald Trump’s signature 2016 campaign pledge to “Build That Wall” has taken on new meaning during the coronavirus pandemic, with supporters ever more eager to complete the project and detractors trying to stop it.
For Trump and his team, it is even more urgent now to shore up the border to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. As a result, construction is accelerating at the border, Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan confirmed to Fox News.
“This pandemic has not slowed the construction of the border wall system. In fact, we’re increasing the pace of construction,” Morgan said.
“COVID-19 should be a wake-up call for all Americans that border security is national security. Preventing and slowing down the introduction of a deadly virus into the U.S. from outside our borders is exactly why border security matters, and why the wall matters.”
Morgan said construction crews have completed 182 miles of wall in pursuit of the 450-mile goal by the end of Trump’s first term.
“Border security is national security and the border wall system is a priority in protecting the American people,” he said. “We’ve been consistent about our need for a wall, and we are full steam ahead on its construction.”
Building the wall includes more than just the physical structure; crews are working to vastly improve the quality of existing structures, adding cameras and sensors and constructing additional roads for patrol officers to better police the border.
“CBP has dealt with a variety of infectious disease threats in the past and it is undeniably a health security and national security matter,” Morgan added. “The border wall system has helped us stem the spread of COVID-19.”
Trump has been decisive throughout the pandemic with efforts to seal off travel into America: The president imposed travel bans from China and 26 European nations, closed the southern border and halted immigration.
Whereas his “America First” agenda was an outlier in the globalist international order in 2016, the pandemic has now forced countries around the globe to also seal their borders in order to protect their citizens from the spread of COVID-19.
It might seem like common sense: If citizens are told to shelter at home and businesses are closed to keep the country safer, shouldn’t resources be allocated to the border to do the same?
Not so, according to Democrats in Congress, who signed a letter in April urging an end to border wall construction as a vital part of fighting the pandemic. They made the very opposite case of the Trump administration.
“While our country fights to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, continuing border wall construction places local communities at unnecessary risk,” the lawmakers stated. “We request that during this crisis, all border wall construction halt immediately.”
The letter urged that resources be invested in health care and helping businesses rather than in an “ineffective and wasteful border wall.” The Democrats also warned that construction practices at the border were violating social distancing protocols and placing workers at risk.
The American government has already provided trillions in relief for health care and the economy. The president has been supportive in addressing these concerns.
But Trump also rightly recognizes that his solemn promise to “Build That Wall,” a slogan chanted by millions at his campaign rallies, has become even more urgent as Americans continue to battle a deadly and costly disease brought upon our nation by foreigners.
The coronavirus has highlighted that our national security, economy, way of life, health and very lives depend on ensuring vigilance in knowing who enters this nation by land, air and sea.
Every precaution and structure we can impose to protect our borders is essential.
Trump is to be applauded for not allowing Democrats to sabotage his administration’s priorities during this national emergency.
“Never let a good crisis go to waste,” is the adage progressives have used in the past to advance their leftist agenda in times of struggle.
President Trump is now applying the same strategy, using the coronavirus crisis to speed up building the wall, thus transforming America for the better.
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