The idea of ending birthright citizenship was, in the not-too-distant past, an idea relegated to the fringes of Republican politics. Now, both of the GOP’s top two presidential candidates have made this a key part of their national candidacies.
Meanwhile, the idea of building a giant wall along the U.S./Mexico border was even more unusual in party politics until quite recently. During George W. Bush’s and Barack Obama’s presidencies, for example, there was a considerable push in Republican circles for increased border security, but few in the party seriously expected the federal government to erect a literal, physical barrier from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.
And then Donald Trump came along. As Axios reported, it’s now effectively Republican orthodoxy.
Almost every Republican running for president supports constructing a wall along the southern border, including candidates who were previously skeptical of the idea such as former Govs. Nikki Haley and Chris Christie. … The GOP’s full embrace of a border wall — a concept that most Republican candidates mocked or criticized during the 2016 primary — is the latest example of how Donald Trump has transformed the party’s approach to immigration.
Right off the bat, the devolution among candidates who know better is a sight to behold. Haley, for example, derided the idea of a wall as a gimmick. Christie saw it as a punch-line to a silly joke. Even for Trump himself, references to a wall were basically “a mnemonic device of sorts“ to help him remember to talk about immigration policy while on the stump.
In 2016, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, while auditioning as a possible Trump running mate, conceded that constructing a 2,000-mile wall was impossible — “Listen, I know you can’t do that,” Perry said at the time — but the Texan assured voters that Trump could instead build “a technological wall” and “a digital wall.”
And yet, seven years later, here we are, watching nearly every Republican presidential candidate treat the idea of a literal border wall as a realistic goal they intend to implement if elected.
This is an inconvenient detail that’s often overlooked, but it’s worth remembering from time to time that Trump’s endeavor was a failure. In 2019, for example, the then-president traveled to southern California, encouraging television cameras to get an up-close picture, and declared that his administration’s border barriers were “virtually impenetrable.”
It wasn’t long before the Republican’s claim was discredited. In 2020, for example, winds pushed over newly installed wall panels in California. (CNN reported at the time that there were wind gusts in the area “as high as 37 mph” — not exactly hurricane-like conditions.) A year later, flooding reportedly ripped off gate hinges from part of the wall in Arizona.
But perhaps most important was evidence that smugglers repeatedly sawed through the barriers with commercially available, off-the-shelf power tools that cost as little as $100. This happened literally thousands of times.
A Washington Post report explained last year that after smugglers breached the wall with inexpensive power tools, they created gaps “wide enough for people and narcotics to pass through.” The article went on to note, “After smuggling crews cut through, they often disguise the breaches with tinted putty, making it difficult for agents to recognize which bollards have been compromised. The smugglers can return again and again to the site until the damage is detected, using the breach like a secret entrance.”
Nearly the entirety of the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential field is looking at this record and effectively telling voters, “I’m eager to build on this record of failure.”
This post revises our related earlier coverage.
