10 reactions to Trump's border security address to the nation
Erick Erickson
Erick Erickson, a conservative commentator who was at the forefront of the #NeverTrump movement in the 2016 presidential election, wrote in a blog post that the president’s proposal for border security is “reasonable.”
“The reality is that Bill Clinton and Barack Obama both strengthened our border security and everyone was fine with it,” Erickson wrote. “The President is not calling for a border wall to be built across the entire border. His proposal has been scaled back to add just 234 more miles in areas identified by the Department of Homeland Security at a cost of $5.7 billion.”
Erickson detailed that Trump is asking for $675 million to deter and detect narcotics, weapons, and other materials crossing our borders, $211 million to hire 750 additional Border Patrol agents, $571 million for 2,000 additional ICE personnel, $4.2 billion for 52,000 detention beds, personnel, transportation, and detention alternatives and $563 million for 75 additional immigration judges and support staff.
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“These are all reasonable requests,” Erickson stated. “The only reason Democrats are now opposed is because Donald Trump is the one asking. But Democrats were willing to build fencing and walls for Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.”
“President Trump is additionally right to keep the government shutdown until the Democrats are willing to negotiate,” Erickson continued. "We all know the Democrats will not offer up any funding for a wall the moment the government reopens. It is unfortunate that the Democrats' refusal to compromise on an issue they were fine with just eleven months ago is keeping federal employees from getting paychecks, but it is unreasonable to offer nothing for border security when the data and federal border patrol agents all objectively show we need increased border security.”
