Democrats Propose a "Smart Wall" to Keep Trump Happy. We Say No Walls, Period!

The government is reopened, at least temporarily, while Democrats try to cobble together a deal on border security that will satisfy the White House. Right now, they're floating the idea of a "smart wall" that would replace a physical barrier with a virtual one.

Instead of concrete or slats, we'd have drones and sensors.

The idea of deploying more tech to the border isn't new, and Democrats have supported it before. They're trying to sell it to us now as the kinder, gentler alternative to Trump's racist border wall monstrosity. Instead of a scar of concrete and metal slashing through the landscape, we could have, instead, a technical fix.

But there's nothing kind or gentle about the "smart wall" proposal, which also includes way more Border Patrol agents and a heavy reliance on technological systems known to be biased. Algorithms like those used in sensors are only as neutral as their creators and we already know that facial recognition and other technologies can be racist.

The "smart wall" will introduce even more surveillance to communities already feeling constantly watched, which will inhibit their freedom of movement and expression. It will also have the effect of criminalizing border communities and the people who live in them. The vague discussions about how this tech might be used are also cause for concern, as militarization can have lethal consequences, and military-grade tech is already in the hands of law enforcement agencies like the Border Patrol.

Adding more tech to the border won't keep people from coming into the U.S., just like building a wall won't keep people out. It will make it harder to enter, but danger hasn't stopped people in the past and it won't do so now; those fleeing poverty, war, and other pressures will do whatever it takes to find a new life in the United States.

We don't need walls, physical or virtual. We need better immigration policy.

Democrats need to throw their "smart wall" in the trash where it belongs and come up with a meaningful plan to improve the immigration experience, recognizing that some people are coming to the U.S. because it's not safe at home, while others are coming to join friends and family, or seek opportunity. All who wish to come here should be welcome, and endangering their civil rights and safety to capitulate to a racist hate-monger in the White House is not the way forward.

Photo: Sherry Smith/Getty Images

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