[OneWingedShark]

Well, here's another plan for border security:

If no additional illegals come into the country, that would stop the flow, which is the real problem.

Wikipedia on the US/Mexico border:

The border's total length is 1,954 mi, according to figures given by the International Boundary and Water Commission. It is the most frequently crossed international border in the world, with approximately 350 million legal crossings being made annually.
[…]
There are an estimated half a million illegal entries into the United States each year.

Wikipedia on the Paladin:

Crew:                     6
Effective firing range:  11 mi
Operational range:      216 mi

So to cover the border we'd need 1,954 / 22 ≈ 89 Paladins… but that's an under-count because that would entail butting them directly on the border. We would actually want them back a bit.

c² = b² + a²
11²  = 5.5² + a²
121 = 30.25 + a²
90.75 = a²
9.5 ≈ a

So, we could put them 5.5 mi away from the border, allowing them to cover 19 mi of border; this would mean that we'd need 1,954 / 19 ≈ 103 paladins [103 * 6 = 618 men].
Or, we could put them 9.5 mi away from the border, allowing them to cover 11 mi of border; this would mean that we'd need 1,954 / 11 ≈ 178 paladins [178 * 6 = 1,068 men].
(Of course we'd need logistics to support them: meals, munitions, mail, etc.)

See, securing the border is not as hard as they make it out to be.

You might make the point that it would be unjust or immoral, but if you say that we cannot then you argue against the power/authority to seal our borders — something that should be laughed away by any sane reading of Art IV, Sec 4.

Moreover, we can force the issue via the states — the major problem here is getting a gov with stones.

[null and void]

I’d back ‘em up to 12 miles from the border. No point in risking a stray round landing in a foreign country...

[PrairieDawg]

Using Rocket Assisted Projectiles, you can push the effective range to 19 miles. Orrrrrr, you could use the MQ-9 Reaper (which we have 104 or thereabouts) which can carry (according to Wikipedia): Up to 4 AGM-114 Hellfire air to ground missiles can be carried or four Hellfire missiles and two 500 lb (230 kg) GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs. and can see you from 30K+ ft altitude. Reduces the number of personnel needed and is probably cheaper (personnel eat on base or home). Just a thought.

FRegards,
PrairieDawg

[GeronL]

or we could just deny them welfare, schools, ER, jobs and stuff.