Border patrol chief: Wall will ‘most certainly’ help secure southern border

President Trump’s proposed border wall will help federal agencies secure the U.S.-Mexico border, according to Carla Provost, the newly announced chief of U.S. border patrol.

“Most certainly, it already assists my men and women,” Provost told Hill.TV’s Buck Sexton on Wednesday.

“We already have many miles, over 600 miles of barrier along the border. I have been in locations where there was no barrier, and then I was there when we put it up. It certainly helps. It’s not a be all end all. It’s a part of a system. We need the technology, we need that infrastructure,” she added in the interview that aired Thursday.

The Trump administration announced on Thursday that Provost would lead the agency, making her the first woman to ever hold the position.

The president has come under fire in recent months after reports surfaced that his zero tolerance immigration policy led to the separation of more than 2,500 migrant children from their parents at the U.S. border. 

Trump first vowed to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico during the start of his presidential campaign in 2015. In recent weeks, he has threatened to shut down the government over funding for the wall, slamming the Senate’s proposal to provide $1.6 billion for the project.  

He is reportedly expected to push for the full $25 billion to fund the structure.

However, the Government Accountability Office revealed on Monday that the administration has not conducted a full analysis of the costs for the wall. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has tested eight prototypes for border barriers, and has assessed each design for security and costs.

“We need the agents to be able to respond when there is traffic to the area, and we need access and mobility. A lot of the areas along the border are very difficult for us to access,” Provost said. 

“It’s that combination of those four things, impedance and denial, technology, access and mobility, and then the men and women,” she said. “That’s that kind of, I guess that magic combination that we have found over the 23 years I have been in. It’s a different combination everywhere that we go. There’s no one size fits all, but we definitely need all of those things.” 

— Julia Manchester