The Borders Are Secure, People – Obama Said So!

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Yo, the borders are secure people – and they have been since 2011. President Obama said so in a speech he gave on May 10, 2011 at Chamizal National Memorial Park, in El Paso, Texas, on immigration reform. I mean he is doing a kick ass job people, so just lighten up.

He said himself that the Border Patrol had 20,000 agents, which is twice as many as they had in 2004 under Bush.

And, that fence…well it’s “basically complete.” (***scratching head***)

And, he’s tripled the number of intelligence analysts working the border.

And, he’s deployed unmanned aerial vehicles to patrol the skies from Texas to California.

And, he’s forged a partnership with Mexico.

As a result of all this hard work he did, 31 percent more drugs and 65 percent more weapons have been seized at the southern border.

And, less people are getting caught coming across the border – nearly 40 percent less since 2009 – and fewer people are trying to cross the border.

So yeah, it’s all good. Border’s all “secured up” and whatnot, ya’ll. Now quit your bitching.

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on immigration reform while speaking at Chamizal National Memorial Park in El Paso, Texas, May 10, 2011. (Official White House Photo – Public Domain)

Here is a portion of that speech:

But over the last two years, thanks to the outstanding work of Janet and Alan and everybody who’s down here working at the border, we’ve answered those concerns. Under their leadership, we have strengthened border security beyond what many believed was possible. They wanted more agents at the border. Well, we now have more boots on the ground on the southwest border than at any time in our history.

The Border Patrol has 20,000 agents – more than twice as many as there were in 2004. It’s a build-up that began under President Bush and that we’ve continued, and I had a chance to meet some of these outstanding agents, and actually saw some of them on horseback who looked pretty tough. So we put the agents here.

Then they wanted a fence. Well, the fence is now basically complete.

Then we’ve gone further. We tripled the number of intelligence analysts working at the border. I’ve deployed unmanned aerial vehicles to patrol the skies from Texas to California. We have forged a partnership with Mexico to fight the transnational criminal organizations that have affected both of our countries. And for the first time – for the first time we’re screening 100 percent of southbound rail shipments to seize guns and money going south even as we go after drugs that are coming north.

So, here’s the point. I want everybody to listen carefully to this. We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement. All the stuff they asked for, we’ve done. But, even though we’ve answered these concerns, I’ve got to say I suspect there are still going to be some who are trying to move the goal posts on us one more time.

You know, they said we needed to triple the Border Patrol. Or now they’re going to say we need to quadruple the Border Patrol. Or they’ll want a higher fence. Maybe they’ll need a moat. Maybe they want alligators in the moat. They’ll never be satisfied. And I understand that. That’s politics.

But the truth is the measures we’ve put in place are getting results. Over the past two and a half years, we’ve seized 31 percent more drugs, 75 percent more currency, 64 percent more weapons than ever before. And even as we have stepped up patrols, apprehensions along the border have been cut by nearly 40 percent from two years ago. That means far fewer people are attempting to cross the border illegally.

You can read the entire speech here.