The border wall: Pros and cons and 3 biblical facts

President Trump spoke to the nation last night from the Oval Office, seeking support for building a wall on our border with Mexico. Democratic Party leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer then responded.

From our inception, Denison Forum has been nonpartisan. Our mission is not to endorse political leaders or positions but to apply God’s word to the questions of our day, equipping Christians to change our culture by engaging contemporary issues with biblical truth.

As a result, my purpose today is not to offer my opinion on the border wall. Rather, it is to summarize arguments that have been made for and against the project, then to consider biblical principles relevant to this issue and our larger influence in the culture.

Arguments for the border wall

The southern border shared by the United States and Mexico spans 1,969 miles. Approximately 700 miles of border fencing have been completed as part of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 signed by President George W. Bush. These barriers are mostly near urban areas and international bridges.

The US Customs and Border Patrol uses patrols to guard more remote borderlands. It spends $4 billion a year, utilizing 58,000 personnel, 16,875 vehicles, 269 aircraft, 300 watercraft, 300 camera towers, and aerial drones.

Despite these efforts, the Government Accounting Office reports that just 44 percent of the border is under “operational control.” Nearly two-thirds are “monitored” while the rest are “low-level monitored.” It also estimates that only 61 percent of those attempting to cross the border illegally are intercepted.

Building a secure fence or wall could make it more difficult to cross our border illegally. When a fence was constructed on the San Diego border and patrols were increased, the number of people attempting to cross illegally dropped from 600,000 in the early 1990s to 39,000 in 2015.

Illegal drugs flow across our southern border. Some illegal immigrants have committed terrible…