Congress gets back to work today on a supplemental appropriation bill that Border Patrol agents hope will include initial funding for a border wall, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
"We have it in certain areas and it is very effective," Chris Cabrera with the National Border Patrol Council in Texas tells News Radio 1200 WOAI. "We'd like to see more of it go up along the southwest border and help us secure the areas that need to be secured."
Congress will have just days to crank out a bill to avoid a government shutdown. Some democrats have vowed to filibuster any bill that includes border wall funding. While Republicans have a majority, they don’t have the super-majority needed to avert the showdown.
Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) puts the onus on President Donald Trump for refusing to compromise.
"Now that he is facing bipartisan opposition to this irresponsible plan, he wants to punish the American people by shutting down the government. President Trump should be leading the nation, and encouraging investment in border security measures that actually work,” he tells Newsradio 1200 WOAI in a statement.
Speaking on Twitter, President Trump stands by the decision to build a continuous wall across the southern border."
The Wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)! If the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be," he tweeted this week.
Cabrera agrees.
He says, not only does the wall slow down the bad guys, it pushes them away from cities, where they can easily blend in.
"It increases our apprehension rate because we have more time to catch up to them when we have those walls in places to help funnel them to places where we want to apprehend them."
IMAGE; GETTY