With a great deal of misplaced glee, many liberals and their media friends recently shared a video of an illegal immigrant successfully climbing over a new section of the border wall. The clip went viral, racking up millions of views across multiple platforms. It was touted as 'proof' that walls don't work, and was generally used to dunk on President Trump. Here's the footage -- entitled "Man Climbs Over Trump's Border Wall," attracting thousands of likes -- as presented by NowThis, a left-wing propaganda outfit:
I can't quite wrap my head around the mentality that leads to cheering on an illegal immigrant's flagrantly unlawful entry into US sovereign territory in order to stick it to a president you don't like, but here we are. In any case, it seems as though the ostensible 'lesson' of the video above missed the mark. Here's a detailed fact check from the Border Patrol, which explains how the wall did, in fact, serve its purpose -- via Missouri Congressman Sam Graves:Yesterday, a video showing someone illegally crossing into the United States over the new border wall went viral.
— Rep. Sam Graves (@RepSamGraves) December 5, 2019
Today the Border Patrol revealed there was more to the story.
Spoiler alert: the suspect didn’t get away—and the wall worked as planned. #BuildTheWall pic.twitter.com/oY6ondY4pX
“I’m standing in the exact location where this incident took place, and I will provide you with the information that video clip could not. The border wall systems consists of not only a physical barrier, but also lighting, patrol roads, and detection technology. While the physical barrier serves to slow down illicit traffic, the detection technology alerts our agents as to where and when threats emerge. The patrol roads allow for a rapid response. In this particular incident, the border wall system worked exactly as designed. The illicit traffic was slowed down. The detection technology alerted our agents. Agents responded, and the subject was apprehended.”
The agent added, "crossing illegally into the United States is a federal crime. Those who violate the law will be held accountable, and there are consequences to these actions." The Border Patrol has practically begged Congress to approve additional barriers, repeatedly explaining how walls and fencing make their jobs easier. Several Democratic presidential candidates have proposed decriminalizing illegal border crossings, a move that has been characterized as "open borders" by President Obama's former Homeland Security chief and a prominent lefty writer at Mother Jones. Physical barriers are hardly the only solution to our broken immigration system, but they represent one demonstrably helpful tool to deter, prevent, and slow illegal border crossings. Speaking of illegal border crossings:
For the first time in more than a year, the U.S. is apprehending fewer migrant children and families than adults along the southern border, a major demographic shift that Trump administration officials attribute to "consequences" they are applying to deter U.S.-bound migrants. U.S. border officials in October apprehended more than 35,000 migrants — including nearly 10,000 families and 3,000 unaccompanied migrant children — along the U.S.-Mexico border, marking the fifth consecutive monthly decline in arrests there, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials said Thursday. Single adult migrants comprised the bulk of those apprehended at nearly 23,000 arrests.
Another contributing factor to this progress is a series of largely-unheralded Trump administration diplomatic agreements with a trio of Central American nations.