The town of Calexico, in California, is building a second border wall in an attempt to further combat drug trafficking in the area, but a former mayor is mocking the effort, calling it "laughable" as he claims it won't improve results.
"It's laughable if they really believe it's going to stop fentanyl or any kind of migration," Raul Ureña told Border Report. "Most of the drugs smuggled into this country are smuggled through ports of entry and not over the border fence itself — especially with fentanyl, a secondary border wall is not going to physically stop it."
A spokesperson from Customs and Border Patrol told the outlet that 90% of all fentanyl smuggled into the U.S. does come through ports of entry.
Regardless, agents are continuing with their efforts, resorting to unused federal resources for the wall, which has a 45 angle degree. "What we don't want is paralysis by analysis, or to wait or to hesitate," said sector chief Gregory Bovino when the construction's pace picked up.
"We have to do it fast. And we have to do it hard, because guess what? The bad guys on the south side — they do it fast and hard. We have to do it faster and harder," he added. The actions come as a response to cartels' own, as members cut sensor bars and cross through residential areas where they can easily hide immediately after entering the U.S.
Agents have also deployed a series of reinforcing actions, including ATVs, foot and vehicle patrolling, but they are mostly relying on the secondary wall.
In that context, Ureña said the resources should be going to other areas, anticipating the effort will be "another failed attempt in the war against drugs." "Building walls hasn't worked in the last 30 years, it has only made the drug trade and our border regions more violent. That money should be spent in real issues in the the border region like climate change, lack of jobs, education, diplomatic relations with Mexico to ensure there are more jobs and prosperity along the border."
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