We need to build the border wall to stop the migrant caravans

Building a wall just for a relative trickle of immigrants who’ve been crossing the border for decades would have been expensive overkill at a time when the US should have been watching its spending. There must be more cost-effective, high-tech ways to catch small groups of illegal intruders.

Now that “caravans” — the generally accepted word, not mine — are trying to enter the US from the south, the wall makes a whole lot more sense. In fact, Trump couldn’t have asked for a better excuse for his beloved barricade.

In the past there have been “caravans” of sorts coming into the US, only those were ships. The immigrants coming from Europe in droves came by floating caravans. But the difference was that they arrived here, were screened and allowed to stay if they were deemed not to become a burden on the social services system.