Trump administration officials plan on constructing 85 miles of new border wall this year alone. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia, File)
In October, the San Diego sector averaged 451 illegal crossings every day. In March, under President Trump, that average daily number fell to 39.
"If you've got laws that aren't being enforced, or if you have an administration like the Biden administration that refuses to allow the border patrol to actually enforce the law and provide a consequence, then walls by themselves don't work," Banks told Fox. "We've gotten the border under more control than it's ever been, but the goal is operational control, and we're not going to quit until we get there."
MIGRANT BORDER ENCOUNTERS PLUMMET UNDER TRUMP VS. BIDEN'S RECORD HIGHS
On that front, Banks wants to expand the use of large blocking buoys in the middle of the Rio Grande and backstop them with walls on the shoreline. It’s a multi-layered security zone that exists in other areas of the border. "What you'll have is a two-tiered system," Banks says.
"So, you'll have the buoy systems in the river in Texas. If you were to make it past those buoys and made it to the shore, then you still would have the actual border wall system."
Crews have already begun plugging gaps in the existing border wall line in a part of the San Diego area known as "Smuggler's Gulch." (Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)
All told, Border Patrol officials would like to add up to nearly 1,000 miles of additional barriers in the years to come – if Congress provides the funding. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) introduced a bill in January that would allocate $25 billion for that purpose.
In the meantime, crews continue to plug gaps like the one in Smuggler's Gulch.
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"We’re going to catch everyone that’s crossing and be aware of what’s going on in our area of responsibility," Stalnaker said as a bulldozer behind him cleared the way for the next wall panel to go into the ground.
William La Jeunesse joined FOX News Channel (FNC) in March 1998 and currently serves as a Senior National Correspondent.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-admin-shares-border-plans-2025-beyond