Official says there needs to be balance of infrastructure and manpower at border

San Diego border official Rodney Scott emphasized the need to balance manpower and infrastructure at the U.S. southern border in an interview that aired Tuesday on “Rising.” 

“This area is much more manpower intensive. That’s a reoccurring cost, every year for as long as I need to hire that agent,” Scott, chief U.S. Border Patrol agent for the sector, told Hill.TV’s Buck Sexton last week. 

“Infrastructure is a one-time cost. We need both, but we try to do that balance effectively,” he continued.

“I’ve determined that extending that double fencing out beyond where you were yesterday where the end of that fence is, is a pretty good priority for us because I’m not able to control this area now with just the manpower and technology,” he said.

The government shutdown, which began over an impasse on President Trump’s proposed border wall, is in its fifth week. 

Trump has requested $5.7 billion to build his long-promised border wall, but Democrats have said they will not budge on his funding request, offering more for border security instead.

The president argues that a wall would reduce crime and decrease the flow of illegal drugs across the border. Democrats, meanwhile, argue that a 2,000-mile-long barrier would be an ineffective solution for the length of the U.S.–Mexico border.

— Julia Manchester