Seriously Mr. President we need people, not walls

Can a wall observe?

Can a wall think?

Can a wall show empathy?

Can a wall adjust to circumstances?

Can a wall make a determination of a problem?

Can a wall decide friend or foe?

Can a wall find the parent of a crying child?

Can a wall maintain itself?

Can a wall a react to a threat?

Can a wall make critical decisions?

Even if you have been just barely paying attention to the real border and customs problems you know we do not have enough manpower. We need to hire people. We need to hire more people. And then we need to hire much more people.

The wall is an inanimate object that serves no purpose, but to create a barrier. The problem with barriers is people will find a way to circumvent them. People are smarter than walls, yes even those people you do not like are much more capable of maneuvering around a wall than a wall is of preventing people from coming here.

The real problem of protecting our borders cannot be solved by a barrier. It takes 24 hour surveillance. It takes people addressing people. Helping them sometimes, getting to know them sometimes, processing them sometimes, sending them back sometimes, getting them medical attention sometimes, arresting them sometimes, basically interacting with people as they come to the United States and determining why they are entering.

Protecting our borders is a highly dangerous and rarely rewarding career. And the problems are exacerbated by the lack of personnel needed to manage all our ports of entry. The current status of the Customs Department is bleak. Why? There is not enough people to do the job.

A wall cannot replace a person. A wall cannot do more than one job. A wall has no initiative. A wall has no incentive to do more. A wall does not care.  

Our customs people do more than the average American knows. We, in general, see them either in pictures at the border, on the news, or if we come home from a trip abroad. We do not see them trying to process hundreds of people a day not sure if any of them are ill, carrying disease, carrying a weapon, or have the potential to be a world saver looking for a better opportunity.  

We do not see the endless hours of doing the same thing over and over again, yet having to be hyper vigilant to what may happen at any moment.  We do not see the 16 hour days. We do not see the frustration in the eyes of the workers who want to do more, yet can’t due to lack of resources and lack of personnel to stand with them day after day.

We expect much for our customs officers. We give them nothing. Day in and day out, just like our military, just like our police, just like our firefighters and our first responders they put their lives and health at risk to do their job. Sometimes it is monotonous, sometimes the days drag, sometimes all hell breaks loose and they have to shoot someone on a border bridge like they did south of San Diego not knowing if this is a one off situation or is the whole place going to explode.

We need better facilities. We need people who are trained to handle multiple scenarios and can adjust to the situation as it changes

And what is it they need most? People

And our support.

They do not need to be politicized. They do not need characterization of supporting certain policies over others. They are Democrats, Independents and Republicans, maybe even a few are Libertarians or Green Party or are apolitical. They love their favorite team. They love their music. They love to read. They want their vacations and their favorite coffee. They want time to be with their family and friends. They want time to pray.

They do not need gofundme pages for a wall. They do not need hatred. They do not need ignorance. They do not need Congress or the President displaying them in a backdrop to further their political agenda. They need help, much help. They need better resources, they need more technology, they need cooperation from other government agencies and they need people. They need you.

Better immigration policy is something we need. Walls do not create better policy. Walls create division. Congress and you Mr. President need to quit grandstanding and sit down and work on real policy. We need real improvements to protecting our border. We need better foreign policy that understands what is going on around the world. We need to give our customs agents the tools to be prepared for events abroad that will come back to us. We need our government to understand we have a responsibility to be the best country we can be.

We cannot just open the door and not expect to have problems, yet we can work with people as they want to come here to make the best determination as to should they come here. We cannot be everything to everyone, yet we can be the best neighbor or be the most empathetic to the plights of others. We can work with other countries to create help for refugees when needed. We can work with other countries to identify problems and find solutions. We can create partnerships around the globe where we are relied on, yet not the solution.

We need you, Mr. President, to understand that a wall only gets in the way of progress. If you use it to separate people, eventually someone will tear it down.

If you want real border security Mr. President, get off your back end, walk down Pennsylvania Avenue and talk to some people about how we help our people in the Customs Department.

And if by chance you listen to your own department, the very first item on the to do list will be: we need people.