In their televised response to President Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–NY) conceded that border security is an issue. After a prolonged period of Democrats advocating for open borders and denying border security is even a problem, President Trump has managed to move the national conversation to the point where Democrat leadership is now in agreement with him on his signature campaign issue of securing the border. “The fact is, we all agree we need to secure our borders,” Pelosi said.
In fact, in some areas, the Democrats are now admitting agreement with Trump: they agree on having new technology to help stop drug trafficking, more officers, and humanitarian aid to help women and children at the border. The key point of disagreement is the wall. Trump wants it and Democrats are refusing to budge for now, with Schumer calling it an “ineffective, expensive wall.”
Claims of ineffectiveness are questionable considering a border wall has worked very well for Israel, with a former Israeli mayor saying it proved quite effective in drastically reducing illegal immigration into his own country. Howling about being “expensive” is laughable coming from the political party whose last president, Barack Obama, nearly doubled the national debt to almost $20 trillion.
Border security is the issue on which Trump campaigned hardest and won supporters to his cause, while weathering relentless attacks calling him a racist and hatemonger for merely wanting the U.S. government to properly perform one of its core services. This concession that the border is an issue is important and should encourage conservatives to hold the line.
