Again and again the liberal media, politician, and activists have derided the Wall on the border as being a fantasy solution to the problem of illegal immigration. They have claimed the Wall will have little effect in keeping anyone out, because most immigrants come through regular ports of entry, even by air. Or they come by sea or tunnel under walls.
However, criminal justice expert Paul Brakke, who has published seven books on the subject through American Leadership Books, including Crime in America and Dealing with Illegal Immigration and the Opioid Crisis, has pointed to new evidence and thinking that shows why the Wall will help to stem the flood of illegal immigrants.
For example, Brakke cites a June 2017 article by the late great conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer, “Build the Wall” on the Prager University website, every sensible immigration policy has two goals. One is to “regain control of our borders so that we decide who enters.” The second is to “find a humane way to deal with the 11 million illegal immigrants who now live among us.”
According to Brakke, these are reasonable goals that both liberals and conservatives can agree on, so the issue is more about what works to achieve these goals. “While liberals decry the ideal of building a wall, it actually works as one of a number of strategies to reduce illegal immigration.”
According to Brakke, agreeing with Krauthammer, it is not practical or moral to expel 11 million immigrants. But there is a way to both legalize them and reduce future illegal immigration, which is what most Americans who oppose legalization actually fear. And that’s where the wall or other methods to regain control of the border come in. “Of course, the wall by itself is not the only way,” says Brakke, “since we also need cameras, sensors, drones, and beefed up border patrols. But walls help to reduce the number of people who seek to get through the border.”
To illustrate, Brakke cites a July 2017 article, “Beyond the Good News of the Wall” by Brandon Judd in the Washington Times. In the article, Judd points out that a secured border fence, such as the double-layered fencing called for in the bipartisan Secure Fence Act of 2006, which President Trump pledged to build, would be another level of deterrence to those seeking to enter illegally. “Having the wall helps to convince people not to break the law in the first place,” says Brakke. “As a result, it reduces the number of people trying to come to the U.S. to get jobs or public benefits, since they feel they are less likely to succeed. With fewer immigrants trying to enter, this means the Border Patrol can focus more on keeping the people who are more dangerous and violent from getting into the country.”
As an example, Brakke points to the dangerous criminal cartels which can be discouraged from entry, such as that headed up by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is now on trial in Brooklyn for leading one of the biggest cartels in Mexico.
“Yes, the drug traffickers use cars, boats, tunnels, and other means to get their drugs into America.
But if a strong wall or border fence can discourage the vast number of economic migrants from coming in, this enables the agents to respond to and arrest the people who are truly dangerous.”
In other words, Brakke agrees with Judd that the huge number of migrants seeing the U.S. as a land of economic opportunity provides cover for the small number of dangerous migrants.
Additionally, Brakke offers another reason to build the wall, along with increasing the number of families and other immigrants admitted legally, as proposed by James D. Miller in a Fox News article, “To Solve the Immigration Crisis, Build the Border Wall and Admit More Legal Immigrants.” As Brakke notes, this approach will discourage the coyotes and traffickers in human slavery who are exploiting the illegal immigrants by taking advantage of their desperation in trying to cross the behavior.
Still another reason to build a wall is because they help to control a border. For example, all over Europe, countries are building fences on the border to keep out the millions of Middle Eastern refugees. Among the countries building them are Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria, Greece, Spain, and Norway. And of course Israel has put up a wall on the West Bank. Plus, to cite Krauthammer’s report, building a triple fence outside of San Diego resulted in reducing migrants crossing the border by 90 percent.
In short, according to Brakke, there are many reasons that walls do work. Moreover, they stand as a symbol of the country’s resolve to secure its borders. No, the border alone won’t be the sole solution, and there will be ways to breach it. But the wall doesn’t have to be completely secure. It mainly has to reduce the huge influx of migrants to a more manageable level, which makes it possible to take other steps, such as creating a more foolproof electronic verify system that makes it very difficult for illegal immigrants to work in the U.S. Also, the U.S. should have a better visa tracking system, since a very large percentage of illegal immigrants — about 40% of them according to Krauthammer — overstay their visas.
“Thus, in contrast to the liberals’ dire warnings that building the Wall is a folly,” says Brakke, “it really makes good sense to build it, along with taking other measures to regain control of our country by reducing the illegal immigration mess.”
Brakke has become especially concerned with this immigration crisis as part of his research on criminal justice in America for the past year, which he has reported in a chapter in Crime in America and in Dealing with Illegal Immigration and the Opioid Crisis. He is also planning a future more in depth analysis of this problem.
In writing his books and working as a consultant, Brakke brings to the table a unique conservative approach to crime, criminal justice, and American society. That’s because usually liberals discuss ways to reform the system through more of a social welfare approach.
But Brakke’s approach is more based on an economic business model of doing what works most efficiently to both cut down costs and create more productive citizens. He is now bringing his unique approach to his forthcoming book Fractured America, dealing with the many divisions that are tearing America apart and how to heal these divisions. It will be published in early February.
Since publishing Crime in America, Brakke has had 35 videos made featuring highlights from the book which are available on the American Leadership Books YouTube channel
To learn more, you can get a copy of Crime in America, with a chapter on the opioid crisis. The book is available through Amazon, Kindle, and major bookstores.
It is currently available on Kindle at a reduced price during its special KDP Select Promotion. Also, free copies are available for government officials who are seeking ways to reduce crime and fix the criminal justice system and for members of the media at crimeinamericathebook.com.
For media copies of the book, more information on American Leadership Books and Paul Brakke, and to set up interviews, please contact:
