Americans who live near border say Trump's wall is unwelcome

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | November 22, 2016 | Frank Bajak

[artichokegrower]

Forget Donald Trump's Great Wall.

The people who live in the bustling, fertile Rio Grande Valley, where the U.S. border meets the Gulf of Mexico, think a "virtual wall" of surveillance technology makes a lot more sense. It's already in wide use and expanding.

[Mollypitcher1]

Don’t ya just get tired of all these “experts”??????????????????????

[crusty old prospector]

The windmills have already ruined West Texas.

[Mollypitcher1]

Ever hear of imminent domain? Seems to me national security is more important than a highway!

[Mollypitcher1]

Their livelihood doesn’t weigh much beside NATIONAL SECURITY. They will get “Just Compensation.”

[cymbeline]

Does a virtual wall prevent people from crossing it or does it just detect when it is crossed?

If the latter then it falls short. It costs thousands to round up and process people after they have crossed. We need something that keeps them out.

[PrairieLady2]

Hore some beavers. They’ll divert tje river for yoir family friendly viewing, AND the wall will still be built on American soil. :)

[DoodleDawg]

You can have a real wall and a virtual wall at the same time.

You can wear suspenders and a belt, too. But why would you?

[smokingfrog]

They look crappy, for sure.

[DoodleDawg]

I have friends and family that own dang near 20 miles of that border, your not going to shut off their river access.

That's what eminent domain is for.

[DoodleDawg]

You wall off the lake with controlled access points for legal access to the lake. Really simple.

But unless those access points are manned 24x7 then couldn't the illegals sneak in through them?

[DoodleDawg]

Mid-river fencing, on the actual border. All the way to the bottom. Water and fish will be unrestricted. People and packs, not so much. The goal is to make it so difficult that it is not worthwhile to try.

We're talking a 50 foot concrete wall. For geological and topographical reasons the may not be able to build it in the middle of a river.

[DoodleDawg]

Nobody said building a wall there would be easy. But Trump campaigned on a wall from sea to shining sea.

[D Rider]

The access points would be like a national park to give us citizens lake access. They could be manned 24/7 or locked after park closing. Depends on what is wanted/required.

[Secret Agent Man]

virtual walls’can’be turned off. like obama just did yesterday.

compromise. lets have both.

[Bob434]

[[ It’s already in wide use and expanding. ]]

Yeah, just ask Kate Steinle’s family how well it’s working- Idiots!

[DoodleDawg]

The access points would be like a national park to give us citizens lake access. They could be manned 24/7 or locked after park closing. Depends on what is wanted/required.

Any gate that is not guarded can be gotten through.

[Salamander]

LOL

[JimRed]

We're talking a 50 foot concrete wall.

Only where it is applicable. The river must flow unrestricted. Bottom line- a wall where it works, fencing where it does not for geological or topographical reasons. Surveillance in any case.

[DoodleDawg]

Only where it is applicable. The river must flow unrestricted. Bottom line- a wall where it works, fencing where it does not for geological or topographical reasons. Surveillance in any case.

Trump will build his wall. It will be on the U.S. side of the border, as close to the actual border as terrain and geology will permit, and it'll be 50 feet high and made of concrete. Trump has made it clear he will accept nothing less.

[JoeProBono]