As with most problems, the people on the frontline facing them on a daily basis are the ones who know what’s really going on – and what it will take to fix them.
That may be why the opinion of Hector Garza, the president of one of the nation’s largest Border Patrol union locals stationed at the border between the United States and Mexico, is so valuable as the new president begins to make good on his promise to “Build The Wall.”
Garza is a Border Patrol agent as well as the head of the National Border Patrol Council Local 2455 in Laredo, Texas, so when he says President Trump’s proposed wall “will be effective,” he’s probably right.
Trump campaigned on the promise of not only erecting the wall, but obtaining reimbursement from Mexico for construction costs and Garza says the agents welcome his willingness to face illegal immigration problems head on, unlike President Obama whose policies hamstrung the Patrol in favor of the illegals.
Garza told reporters that he doesn’t expect the wall to cover the entire 2,000-mile length of the border between the two countries, but “we will have is a wall where it is needed. That barrier, with proper manpower, resources, technology and other tools, will be effective.”
The agents welcome not only Trump’s promise to build the wall, but his commitment to put an end to the “catch and release” policy of the Obama administration that allowed illegal immigrants to leave detention facilities upon a promise to return at a later date.
“Now, we have a president that not only acknowledges the problems. During the previous administration, we had a president that failed to acknowledge the problems on the border.”
Trump’s announcement marks a radical shift in policy and is giving encouragement to the agents at the border.
“We have had eight years of finding excuses and reasons and loopholes to allow people to be walked out the front door of border patrol stations,” said Shawn Moran, also of the National Border Patrol Council. “We’re encouraged that every sign we’ve seen shows that is going to stop.”
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