https://www.theepochtimes.com/obamas...l_2760225.html
By Zachary Stieber
January 8, 2019 Updated: January 8, 2019 Share
A former Border Patrol chief in the Obama administration who was removed by President Donald Trump joined the experts supporting a border wall.
Mark Morgan, a former FBI agent, served as Obama’s Border Patrol chief for most of 2016 and was asked to leave the position by the Trump administration in 2017.
Speaking on Jan. 7 during an appearance on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Morgan said that border walls “absolutely work.”
“If you look in the past, you don’t have to go too far back in history, that bipartisan legislation that was passed, the Secure Fence Act in 2006 and 2012, bipartisan legislation passed where they built the wall or fence or physical barrier, whatever you want to call it, it’s a wall. It works,” Morgan said.
Current Democratic leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) were among those voting for the pieces of legislation Morgan mentioned.
Carlson noted that Morgan had been fired by Trump, which Morgan acknowledged before saying Trump was right about the wall.
“The president is right, the president of [National] Border Control Council is right. The other day when they had the national press conference and they got up and they said, ‘The wall works,’ they’re right, and it’s not based on a personal, political ideology. That’s based on historical data and facts that can be proven,” Morgan said.
“I cannot think of a legitimate argument why anyone would not support the wall as part of a multi-layered border security issue,” he added. “Why aren’t we listening to the experts and the people who do it every day? I don’t understand that.”
Trump’s opponents have taken to calling the wall “immoral” and “ineffective” but have put forth few counter-measures nor cited data supporting their arguments.
President Donald Trump listens to Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, speak about border security in the briefing room at the White House in Washington, on Jan. 3, 2019. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images) Trump invited experts to talk to the media about why a wall works and is necessary on Jan. 3. As Morgan noted, National Border Patrol Council members were among those speaking.“Anywhere that you look where we have built walls, they have worked,” Brandon Judd, a border agent for 21 years and president of the council, told reporters. “They have been an absolute necessity for Border Patrol agents in securing the border.”
Morgan’s comments came as President Trump was scheduled to give his first prime-time address to the nation on Tuesday night to address the crisis at the border.
Trump was also slated to visit the border on Thursday.
Floodlights from the United States illuminate multiple border walls on Jan. 7, 2019, as seen from Tijuana, Mexico. (Gregory Bull/AP Photo) Vice President Mike Pence said early Tuesday during an appearance on ABC that Trump will make his case for the border wall in the speech.“We’re going to continue to carry that case forward until the Democrats in Congress come to the table and start negotiating, not just to end the government shutdown but to address what is an undeniable crisis at our southern border,” Pence said.
Trump is asking for $5.6 billion for the border wall. The funding was part of appropriations passed by the lame duck House in December 2018 but the Senate refused to consider the bill because no Democrats signaled support.
The House, with a new Democratic majority, passed appropriations in January that did not include wall funding but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he wouldn’t bring it to the Senate floor because of a lack of Republican support. He also noted that Trump would veto the funding even if it passed since it included no money for the wall.
From NTD News
Follow Zachary on Twitter: @zackstieber
