Is a Wall the best way to secure the border?

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You're right.

Dec 21, 2018, 11:39 AM

From the 2019 budget:

• The Budget requests over $2.2 billion in high-priority investments in border security technology, infrastructure, and equipment to help CBP prevent, detect, and interdict illegal border crossings. These investments include:
o $1.6 billion for new border wall in locations identified by the Border Patrol as necessary to obtain operational control of the border and impede illegal crossings.
o $183 million for aircraft and other aviation assets to help identify and track illegal border crossings and support enforcement actions on the ground.
o $149 million for critical equipment and facility needs, such as Border Patrol stations, vehicles, and radios.
o $182 million for surveillance technology, such as towers, radars, cameras, and sensors, to give the Border Patrol situational awareness in high-risk areas.
o $107 million for road maintenance to give Border Patrol access to difficult to reach locations.
o $44 million to recapitalize non-intrusive inspection equipment at ports of entry, anticipating that stronger enforcement between the ports may lead to increased contraband flowing through official border crossings.
o These funds are all in addition to the 2018 Budget request of $2.6 billion for these activities, as well as an additional $15.56 billion the Administration is seeking in 2018 for border security as a result of the Congressional caps deal.
• The Budget continues implementation of the President’s direction to hire 5,000 additional Border Patrol Agents and 10,000 ICE officers and investigators. The Budget proposes $782 million to hire and support 2,750 additional law enforcement officers and agents at CBP and ICE, and makes investments at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers to begin training new law enforcement personnel. Specifically:
o CBP: The Budget proposes $211 million to hire and support an additional 750 U.S. Border Patrol Agents to interdict people and contraband illegally entering the United States between ports of entry.
o ICE: The Budget proposes $571 million to hire and support an additional 2,000 Law Enforcement Officers to support the President’s direction to increase interior immigration enforcement.
• The Budget makes other investments in increasing interior immigration enforcement, including:
o $2.7 billion in total funding for 52,000 average daily ICE immigration detention beds, a 25 percent increase over the 2017 Enacted level;
o $278 million for the identification, location, and arrest of fugitive illegal aliens in the United States;
o $686 million for the removal of criminal aliens incarcerated in U.S. jails and prisons; and
o $132 million to support mandatory nationwide use of the E-Verify program, ensuring that
businesses employ only those authorized to work in the United States.
Department of Justice. At the Department of Justice (DOJ), the 2019 Budget proposes an overall funding level of $563 million for the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), a 28 percent increase over the 2017 Enacted level.
• As part of the Administration’s efforts to reduce the pending caseload, the Budget expands EOIR’s adjudicatory capacity by providing funding for an additional 75 Immigration Judge (IJ) teams.
• In addition, $25 million is provided to support technology modernization, improving operational efficiency and promoting the timely adjudication of cases.