Border Wall – Hill Report

Washington (Gallant Gold Media Hill Report) – The safety and well-being of Americans from coast to coast, and living around the world, is of paramount importance. The annual federal dollars budgeted for protecting Americans and our borders is staggering:

DHS | $47.5 billion
FBI | $8.77 billion
US Intelligence | $57.7 billion
DOD | $639.1 billion
SD| $90.3 billion
FEMA | $18 billion
TOTAL | $861.37 billion

States also have significant budgets allocations for protecting citizens. Safety and security is clearly a priority.

The standard continuity of government protocols for national emergencies involves our nation’s top ten leaders shifting into “emergency” response. There are strict guidelines to follow. For example, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack:

President Bush was stuck on a plane in the air with all airports closed
Vice President Cheney made a decision to stay in communication with key decision makers and thus did not fall back to his secure site
House Speaker Denny Hastert was immediately take to underground bunker in the mountains
Attorney General John Ashcroft was on a government plane, he requested that it be turned around and return to Washington, but the FAA would not authorize
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield refused to obey the response protocols and instead rushed to the Pentagon’s crash sight and tried to rescue the injured
Several of the 10 in line to the president were out of the country and could not follow the proper procedure
Several others were never contacted

On Friday February 15, 2019 President Trump held an erratic press conference in the Rose Garden to announce his “national emergency.” Most described it as a wild fifty minutes of Trump switching from one topic to the next, without rhyme or reason, ending with a final comment, “I didn’t need to do this .” Then, instead of following the standard continuity of government protocols, Trump hopped on Air Force One and beelined it to Mar-a- Lago for a luxurious weekend of golf.

Texts from the twin towers on September 11, 2001, a real national emergency, were heart wrenching. The last thoughts from thousands who were about to die. The following is an example of what a real national emergency sounds and feels like from those caught in the crosshairs:

Several National Emergency hashtags have been lighting up Twitter all day, #FAKENationalEmergency and #NotesFromNationalEmergency:

In memory of the thousands killed in past, real national emergencies, and the agonizing internal wounds of family members that will never heal, it’s disgraceful that an American president would pull a stunt like this and label it a national emergency when doing so traumatizes those who’ve suffered through the tormenting real deal. This is shameful.

In light of the hundreds of thousands of social media posts and tweets over the holiday weekend amidst the partial government shutdown, which occurred because of Trump’s willfully blind demand that $5 billion be earmarked to build a border wall, which the vast majority of us know is a futile mission considering how simple and easy it is to tunnel under, or climb over the wall – after all, where there’s a will there’s a way… and our ancestors certainly proved this when they crossed the Atlantic, or trekked across the Sierra Nevadas – it’s time to quickly brainstorm solutions since our president can’t.

Trump is obstinate. He’s not a flexible thinker. Trump latches onto an idea from last century, or in this case, from over a millennium ago, and refuses to let it go and sadly appears completely unable to adapt to reality. Because Trump’s thinking is cemented, he’s not the fittest to find a workable solution.

It’s time to drowned social media with bright ideas. This proposal is a work in progress, but solutions are only found by taking the first step.

Immigration and our AMERICAN PRINCIPLES:

Immigration is part of the American DNA, it’s what has enabled us to become a superpower of goodness that lights the world
We must open our doors to asylum seekers
We must have an efficient and effective path to citizenship
Dreamers must be protected
We must stop guns and drugs and the cartels from crossing the border, as well as other criminals

How to properly apply $5 Billion to securing our border, as well as maintain our American principles:

SUGGESTION: $5 Billion can be used for infrastructure
Many of the jobs created can be given to asylum seekers and migrants seeking citizenship
Back in the 1800’s, once the trans continental railroad was built, and the railway barons (Vanderbilt, Astor, Carnegie) dreamed of towns developing across the heartland, they went in search of immigrants and made deals with them to relocate to America to farm the heartland, offering homesteads, travel expenses and opportunity; more than five million Germans flooded in to what became known as “the German triangle“
Why not do something similar with the current immigration crisis, create small communities, provide infrastructure job opportunities similar to what we did during the great depression when damns, bridges and highways were built through the WPA and the New Deal
If it worked then, it can certainly work now; it’s great to already have a blueprint to follow

This is a seed idea that needs to be watered, nurtured and given sunlight. Stamping it out without coming up with another idea is pointless. Five billion for the wall is also pointless.