Biden is thinking about building that wall — and that's a good thing

According to reports, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas explained that the president has ended funding based on Trump’s emergency declaration, but this leaves room for work on areas of the wall that need renovation and “particular projects that need to be finished.” The political situation in congress has changed too. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has decided that he will not vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster, and the Democrats can’t do it without his vote. That means that the Democrats are not going to be able to stop the Republicans from blocking Democratic legislation in the Senate by filibustering. Biden isn’t going to be able to accomplish anything legislatively without at least some cooperation from Republicans — and constructing more border wall would be a good step towards achieving that objective. A wall won’t stop illegal crossings entirely, but it should be a central part of an overall immigration fix. It’s a functional deterrent against the most reckless forms of border crossing, and it is a barrier against sudden future surges of mass migration.