I’ve walked our southwest border, seen the chaos that’s unfolded over the last four years, and heard directly from Customs and Border Protection personnel who were stretched thin, worn down, and under-resourced. They told me that walls work, technology works, and when we combine both, America is safer.
President Donald Trump understands this. That’s why he built hundreds of miles of new border wall in his first term and gave our agents the tools they requested. But on Day One of the Biden administration, former President Joe Biden halted construction, leaving piles of paid-for materials to rot in the desert while cartels ran wild. Taxpayers got stuck with a $72 million bill to guard unused materials. Then the Biden administration quietly auctioned off the parts for pennies on the dollar.
Fortunately, Trump has already taken major steps to reverse the Biden administration’s failed policies, but it will take years to undo the damage caused by the Biden border crisis and secure our borders for good. This effort starts with a barrier that’s physical and digital.
A border barrier system isn’t just steel and concrete; it’s a full toolbox for Border Patrol agents, including access roads, lighting, sensors, cameras, and cutting-edge surveillance systems. This is a modern security mission.
In Texas, we’ve seen the fallout of the Biden border crisis firsthand. Cartels turned border crossings into a billion-dollar smuggling operation. They flooded one sector with illegal aliens just to distract law enforcement while they moved fentanyl and other deadly drugs through another sector. It’s organized evil.
That’s why the House Homeland Security Committee recently passed $69 billion legislation, over half of which will fund the completion and modernization of the border wall system. That means finishing over 700 miles of primary barrier and building river and secondary barriers where our Border Patrol agents need them most.
Our plan invests in cutting-edge border technology, something I’ve fought for since coming to Congress. As a former special operator in the military, I understand how technology is a force multiplier. Artificial intelligence-powered sensors, autonomous surveillance towers, and drone detection systems are the future of border security, and Republicans are bringing them to the front lines.
Cartels are also using cutting-edge technology for surveillance, such as drones. We’re responding by deploying Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems and real-time intelligence tools. By doing so, we are also expanding our cybersecurity defenses because border threats aren’t just physical but digital.
NEARLY 50 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARRESTED IN SOUTHEAST WITH MONEY AND GUNS
Ultimately, a finished border wall system makes it harder for the next Democratic administration to rip it down. It gives our Border Patrol agents the strategic advantage they need, and it sends a clear message to the cartels, traffickers, and any other criminals thinking about violating our sovereignty that America isn’t open for business.
By investing in more agents, more technology, and a finished border wall, the funding proposal advanced by the House Homeland Security Committee will give Border Patrol agents the tools to enforce the law, dismantle the cartels, and take back control of our southwest border. With a partnership between Trump and Congress, we’ll get it done.
Morgan Luttrell represents Texas’s 8th Congressional District in the House of Representatives.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
