Kirstjen Nielsen, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, downplayed the scope of Trump’s proposed Border Wall in remarks earlier today.
“There is no need for a wall from sea to shining sea,” Nielsen said during a confirmation hearing.
Trump’s Chief of Staff John Kelly has also downplayed the scope of the impending wall.
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Nielsen touted “technology” along the southern border, “It’s not just people, it’s not just barriers, but it’s also technology and it is the policies and procedures that enable us to sense and quickly respond,” she said.
More from Breitbart:
Nielsen said of building a border wall:
First of all, I would just like to, if I could, quote something Senator [Claire] McCaskill said at the beginning. The president has stated as have my predecessors at DHS, certainly something that I share, “There is no need for a wall from sea to shining sea.” What we need to do is work with the operators, should I be confirmed, I would look forward to speaking with state and local officials, those on the ground, both law enforcement and Federal law enforcement to include CBP to understand where we need some sort of physical barrier.
Nielsen comment referred to a statement by Trump’s Chief of Staff, John Kelly, who also downplayed the effectiveness of a border wall.
During the hearing, Nielsen touted “technology” along the southern border as being just as necessary to stop illegal immigration. The technology-based “virtual-wall” narrative is often used by Democrats and Republican establishment to fake sympathy for the public’s insistence on a border wall.
“It’s not just people, it’s not just barriers, but it’s also technology and it is the policies and procedures that enable us to sense and quickly respond,” Nielsen said. “Something seemingly as simple as a road along a piece of physical barrier enables us to actually monitor and respond should a threat be able to get past.”
“It’s not just physical barriers,” Nielsen said. “It is personnel, it is training, it is technology, it is working with state and locals.”
As Breitbart News reported, Nielsen’s nomination to head DHS has been praised by the cheap foreign labor lobby, open borders advocates, and the Washington, D.C. national security establishment – which allied itself with the failed “Never Trump” movement during the 2016 presidential election.
Breitbart is touting this shift as a disaster for the illegal immigration fight.
However, it may simply be Trump’s long-term negotiation tactics at work. We never needed a solid 1000-mile border wall. But with illegals already thinking twice before crossing the border, just the threat of several smaller walls is doing a lot to protect the United States.
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