If you trust the New York Times, I pray to God that Paul Krugman doesn’t offer you any investment tips. You’re way too gullible.
But the Times probably has better sources on the Democrat side of the aisle, so this is one of those interesting-if-true propositions. For all the talk that “Trump’s border wall” (as the media insisted on calling it) was racist and ineffective, Biden has no intention of tearing any of it down:
Advisers involved with the transition team, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss planning for the incoming administration, rejected the notion that there would be any attempt to dismantle the existing border wall, with one adviser calling the wall a “distraction.”
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Customs and Border Protection officials are still rushing to meet Mr. Trump’s mandate of 450 miles of new wall construction during his term, nearly doubling the rate of construction since the start of the year. The administration had built 402 miles of wall as of Nov. 13. Of that, about 25 miles had no barrier before Mr. Trump took office. The rest replaced much smaller, dilapidated sections of wall, or sections that had only vehicle barriers, which border officials say did not deter migrants crossing on foot.
Those who voted for Trump expecting that he would erect a border wall from San Diego to the Rio Grande will surely end up disappointed. But don’t make the mistake of thinking Trump got nothing done on the wall front. Achieving 450 miles of new construction is a game-changer when it comes to deterring on-foot illegal crossings. Yes, people can theoretically “go around” the wall because it doesn’t traverse the entire border. But you have much farther to go now if you want to do that, especially with so many miles that were previously porous having been sealed up.
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So why won’t Biden tear the wall down if it was such a terrible idea to build it? Because it wasn’t a terrible idea, and it absolutely works.
Ever since Trump became a serious player in presidential politics, Democrats have dishonestly portrayed him as against all immigration. And of course, they have ascribed racist motives to him. The same Democrats insist they don’t want more illegal immigration and are committed to border security. This is a lie, of course, as they oppose every border security measure that’s ever proposed. But the media let them get away with it as a way of creating political problems for Trump.
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Television footage of Biden-ordered federal crews tearing down an existing border wall would certainly expose the lie that is the Democrats’ claim about favoring border security. It would also invite lots of new illegal border crossings, and that’s not a problem Biden wants, especially in the middle of a pandemic.
The truth is that Trump did Biden a large favor by constructing those 450 new miles of border wall. It will make border security much easier to manage during whatever years (or months) we get of a Biden presidency. So Biden will keep calling the wall racist and ineffective and unnecessary.
And he’ll leave it right where it is, because he’d be crazy not to.
