Success at border would reshape Trump's argument to finish wall at Big Bend, saving taxpayer money
The administration's success might make the argument that the southern border wall is needed for security a sideshow. Rather, the wall could be viewed as an investment that lowers the costs of resources and border agents on patrol. President Donald Trump has all but closed the southwest border, driving illegal crossings to their lowest level in Border Patrol history, and that success is reshaping the case for finishing the wall through Texas' Big Bend region. The argument is no longer about stopping an invasion but about saving taxpayers' money for decades, with a permanent barrier that can free up agents, shrinking the costly manpower needed to guard one of the border's most remote stretches. This week, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to lift a federal judge’s preliminary injunction that has halted border barrier construction across the roughly 500-mile Big Bend sector…
