Internal DHS Memo: Border Walls Are Most Effective Way to Stop Illegal Immigration

Sarah Arnold reporting for Townhall 

The Biden Administration, who has attacked former President Trump for building a wall at the southern border, are hopping aboard the idea as the president’s crisis continues to wreak havoc. 

According to an internal Department of Homeland Security memo, border walls are the most effective way of stopping illegal migrants from entering the United States. 

Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) obtained a 2017 memo for then-Acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Kevin McAleenan after a public records request. 

The report contradicts President Joe Biden’s claim that border walls are a “waste of money” and “not a serious policy solution” rather than a cost-effective tool. The memo suggests that Biden purposely halted the construction of the border wall so that it was easier for illegal aliens to enter the U.S. 

More from the memo:

For every area of the Southwest border examined, the audit determined that a physical barrier was not only the best option for disrupting irregular migration but also the most cost-effective, as compared to alternatives such as electronic sensors. The results of this OIG investigation call into question President Joe Biden’s decision to abruptly stop two construction of the border wall begun during the Trump administration. Furthermore, this OIG report, when viewed in context, seems to suggest that the Biden administration deliberately ceased wall construction to make it easier for illegal aliens to enter the United States. President Trump’s decision to build a wall was quite simply never the crazy plan that his political opponents suggested. Rather, it was an approach to border management that had previously received bi-partisan support and had resulted in two clear sets of legislative instructions from Congress. 

The report stated that a physical barrier along the southern border is necessary to ensure the public safety and national security of the country, adding that it is concerning Customs Border and Protection did not make its audit findings public.

“In all 25 areas examined, the audit recommended the construction of a pedestrian fence (i.e., “border wall). In fact, a pedestrian fence was the only solution recommended in the vast majority of the areas studied (meaning CBP recommended that no alternative, such as cameras or sensors, be used in conjunction with a fence),” the memo found.

In its conclusion, the memo argued that if the Trump Administration had been able to finish its border wall, the current situation at the southern border would not be as bad as it is.

During Fiscal Year 2021, CBP recorded more than 1.7 million alien encounters— the highest number recorded in a single year at that time. The following year (FY 2022), Biden’s border shattered all previous records, with more than 2.3 million illegal migrant encounters.