Wall is no deterrent

To spend billions of taxpayers’ dollars on a wall between the U.S. and Mexico is a terrible waste of money.

The wall will not keep anyone out who is desperate to get in. The availability to enter the U.S. via the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Baja Gulf and the Pacific Ocean are so vast that it is impossible for the U.S. Coast Guard or state patrols to cover every mile of these coasts. The only deterrent is to punish employers who hire illegals.

While I don’t support cruel treatment of illegals, we need to maintain a secure border. In 1964, the peak of the Cold War, I served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army as the camp commander of Regen Border Camp on the Czechoslovakia-West Germany border. On the Czech side of the border, which was under control of the Soviet Union military, there was a 1,000-meter plowed strip that was mined.

This was an effective deterrent to prevent Czechs from escaping to freedom in West Germany. There were two manned crossings that allowed commercial logging trucks from West Germany to cross.

The U.S.-Mexico border already has several manned crossings. To construct such a minefield with fencing would cost a small fraction of what a 35-foot solid metal wall will cost.

Hopefully, fiscally responsible congressmen will not waste tax dollars on a wall that will accomplish nothing.

This would go a long way to make America great again.

This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 4:00 AM with the headline "Wall is no deterrent."